The 300-year-old gilded Orthodox icon which the BiH Presidency Chairman presented to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last month was not stolen but belongs to a group of family consecrated icons, BiH Presidency Chairman Cabinet said Tuesday.
“Countless fabrications and untruths were told after a wrong initial media presentation stating that the icon is a natural treasure and part of cultural heritage, as never seen before. This is proven by the fact that even seven days after it was presented there is still no confirmation that the icon is on any list of missing icons, neither is it sought after nor is it part of anyone's cultural heritage. Despite all this, the spreading of untruths continues,” the Cabinet of BiH Presidency Chairman Milorad Dodik said in a statement.
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The Cabinet noted that the icon has its “market value but its true value is primarily reflected in the fact that it is a consecrated Orthodox icon of a great saint, known to every Christian.”
“After BiH Presidency Chairman Milorad Dodik presented the gift to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, numerous inaccurate allegations and false accusations were made in public by some media, so-called experts, senior BiH officials, and even individuals from BiH's Republika Srpska entity. Nobody and nothing, and the least of all the disgusting untruths can spoil the fraternal relations between the two Orthodox peoples, as well as the relations between the Serb member of BiH Presidency and the political leadership of Russia,” the Cabinet statement said.
Ukrainian Embassy to Bosnia asked the country's Foreign Ministry to provide detailed information on the origin of the Orthodox Icon belonging to Ukrainian Cultural Heritage, which BiH Serb Presidency member gave to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his official visit to the country on December 14.
Speaking to N1, Bosnia's Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic said that they had received a diplomatic note from the Embassy of Ukraine asking for a statement on how the 300-year-old icon was in the possession of a BiH official, more precisely, the Chairman of BiH Presidency, Milorad Dodik. In the meantime, Russian Foreign Ministry said they would return the said icon via Interpol which will help clarify its origin.
