Bosnia has lost a great friend with the passing of US Senator John McCain, the Bosniak member of the country’s tripartite Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, said while expressing condolences to McCain’s family and the citizens of the US.

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Senator John McCain. Bosnia and Herzegovina and its people have lost a great friend who firmly stood with us in the decisive moments of a fight for survival,” Izetbegovic said.

“We will never forget his friendship. In the name of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and me personally, I am expressing condolences to the family of Senator McCain and the American people,” Izetbegovic said.

McCain died on Saturday. He suffered from a rare and aggressive kind of brain tumor.

In April last year, the Senator visited Bosnia and expressed satisfaction with the progress in the fight against terrorism in the country and support for Bosnia’s aspirations to join the European Union.