Bosnia and Herzegovina did not recognise the independence of Kosovo and accordingly will not support its membership in the international organisations, Bosnia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday following the announcement of Kosovo's candidacy for membership in the Interpol.

The ministry recalled that Bosnia and Herzegovina did not recognise “the self-proclaimed independence of so-called Kosovo and, in accordance with that, does not support the applications for its membership in the international and regional organisations, therefore it will not support a possible candidacy for the membership of so-called Kosovo in Interpol.”

The exception, according to the ministry's statement, is the participation of this region that declared independence from Serbia in 2008 in certain international and regional initiatives, which was previously harmonised with Serbia.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has delivered to all competent institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina a detailed explanation of the said foreign-policy goal, which is the ground for Bosnia and Herzegovina's acting at international forums,” said the ministry.

Kosovo recognition is a political issue in Bosnia, where a decision to acknowledge the independence of this country requires the consent of three constituent ethnic groups and two semi-autonomous entities. Republika Srpska (RS), a Serb-dominated entity and the Serbs as a constituent people with the equal share in the decision making with other two peoples – the Bosniaks and the Croats and other entity – Federation (FBiH), block the Kosovo recognition as they follow the stance of Serbia on this matter.