Changing the US Ambassador to Bosnia does not mean the US policy toward Bosnia will change, as the country is not in the main focus of US interest, Professor at the Banja Luka Political Sciences Faculty, Milos Solaja, said on Saturday.

Solaja said that the replacement of ambassadors after their mandate is a common process that does not need to be given a lot of attention to.

“I think that the US will not change its policy toward Bosnia,” he said.

US President Donald Trump has on Thursday announced his intent to nominate Eric George Nelson for Ambassador to Bosnia. Nelson is serving as Deputy Executive Secretary and Director of the Executive Office of the Executive Secretariat to the Office of the Secretary of State since 2015.

Solaja said that Nelson comes from a relatively high position within the foreign policy administration of the US, which may raise the importance of Bosnia in US policy.

“This means that the problem is more complex and complicated than in other countries,” he said.

“For decades already there is this wrong perception in the region that ambassadors conduct their own policies,” Solaja said, explaining that ambassadors are “appointed to implement the policies of their countries.”

Nelson is to replace current US Ambassador Maureen Cormack who has been serving in Bosnia since 2015.

In criticising Cormack’s activities on Wednesday, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who is the President of the Serb-dominated part of the country, said that she represents the policies of the Obama administration, which has nothing to do with Trump-era policies.