Bosnia’s Foreign Affairs Minister violated constitutional provisions when she was “without authorisation from the Presidency” involved in giving consent to certain positions on the issue of Belarus at European forums, the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency said on Tuesday after meeting with Swedish top officials.

Milorad Dodik, along with Bosnian Croat Presidency member Zeljko Komsic, met with a Swedish Delegation consisting of the country’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde, Interior Minister Mikael Damberg and Special Envoy on Organised Crime Hakan Jevrell.

Dodik said that Sweden’s chairmanship in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was among the topics discussed.

He said that the OSCE, as a security body in this area, “should certainly take on a more significant form than it had before, bearing in mind that hotspots like Belarus and the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia are opening.”

“Bosnia and Herzegovina did not define its position on any of these two issues, nor was such a thing on the agenda, except that it is known that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, without the authorization of the Presidency, was unilaterally involved in giving consent to some European forums for positions on Belarus,” Dodik said.

In August, Bosnia was among the Western Balkan countries that have aligned themselves with the EU Declaration on the elections in Belarus and the events that followed it. Members of the European Economic Area, which includes Sweden, also aligned themselves with the document.

According to the Declaration by the EU High Representative, The European Union does not recognise the “falsified” results of the Belarus election which was “neither free nor fair.”

It also condemned the “disproportionate and unacceptable violence” by Belarus authorities in dealing with the protest following the election.

“Without any authorization from the Presidency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was, in violation of constitutional provisions, involved in giving consent at European forums for certain positions on the issue of Belarus. That is not the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it creates a misconception that is not good and brings problems to Bosnia,” Dodik said.

“Relations remain good with Sweden, we asked the ministers to help us in the further affirmations of Bosnia’s European path,” he said.

He also said he told the Swedish Delegation that there is no consensus on NATO membership in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that it is an issue that is often discussed.

“Sweden is not a member of NATO either, and the minister confirmed that they plan to cooperate (with NATO) without membership,” he said.

Dodik stressed that it is clear that there is no consensus on NATO membership and that there will not be one in Bosnia, arguing that the issue “should not be as important as some might be insisting.”

“It is important to achieve cooperation with NATO and we welcome that, but we believe that there are no conditions for Bosnia’s entry into NATO and that such conditions will not be met,” he said.

The Swedish Delegation will also meet with civil society organisations and international community representatives during the visit to Bosnia.