Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot survive in its current form unless it joins the European Union very soon, former politician and diplomat Hasan Muratovic said in N1's Pressing.

In the period after the 1992-95 war, Muratovic was the first Prime Minister of what was then called the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is known for having participated in the wartime talks with the international community.

According to him, there is no consensus within the international community on Bosnia.

“I strongly believe that Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot survive in this form unless it joins the European Union very soon. Many in the world know this very well yet they do nothing. When Romania, Bulgaria or Baltic countries were joining, some of EU's principles that are tested on us were not respected,” said the former diplomat, now a university professor.

He also touched upon the relations in the region. 

Serbia's and Croatia's policies towards Bosnia are partly grounded on “traditional goals of these two countries towards Bosnia and Herzegovina,” according to Muratovic. Furthermore, he said, Bosnia's relation with Croatia seriously deteriorated when Bosnian Croat nationalist leader Dragan Covic was not elected in the state Presidency.

But, he also pointed out other factors.

“As much as the reasons behind our bad relations lie in rightist forces in Serbia and Croatia, they are also present in our people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosniaks do nothing about those relations either,” he said.

Bosniaks, said the former politician, lost all communication with America, “the country which can always help us and (the country) which saved us.”

“If there had been no US, it is a question what would have happened with Bosnia and Herzegovina because Serbia has a strong diplomatic service and many friends in the world. China and Russia helped so that the Resolution on Genocide in Srebrenica is not adopted,” Muratovic recalled.

Asked if great powers want Bosnia to survive as a state, he replied that not all of them want the same.

“There are countries which act friendly with us. There are those which would divide us. Many countries even today think of dividing Bosnia and Herzegovina into three parts. That's impossible,” said former official.

He does not think that the situation of today has any similarities with one of the early 1990s. There is no Yugoslavia, there is no Yugoslav Army while arming or forming of new police units do not pose any war threat, according to him.

Lack of a lobbying network for Bosnia abroad has caused that Bosnia has no friends in the world, Muratovic reiterated.

“Can you think of a single country in the world that is our friend in politics or economy? Why? Because nobody works on that. Who works for Bosnia and Herzegovina in America today? We lost our main strategic partner, the country which saved us in the war,” said Muratovic, adding that Turkey is a friendly country but Bosnia cannot rely on it.

“Turkey has its own interests in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the Balkans in general,” he said.