The Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Becirovic, said after talks with Croatian President Zoran Milanovic in Zagreb on Thursday that Milorad Dodik is a threat to security while Milanovic believes Dodik lacks the money, weapons and military force for that. Pročitaj više

“We have a politician who has transformed from a political to a security threat,” Becirovic said at a joint news conference with Milanovic.

“He must be stopped in his anti-Dayton, unconstitutional policy. It is time everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina and elsewhere realised that. It's better to prevent it than let the problems in BiH escalate, affecting the region as well,” the visiting official said in Zagreb.

On the other hand, the Croatian president said that for someone to pose a threat to security they have to have money, weapons and people willing to go to war, which, he said, he does not think Dodik has.

Milanovic reiterated that Dodik is a collocutor because he is a legitimate representative of the Serb people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“There should be no high emotions about that,” he said but noted that with his statements about his (Milanovic's) visit to Derventa, where he decorated a BiH Croat brigade, Dodik has demonstrated “a lack of seriousness” which “threatens our relations.”

Milanovic said earlier that he had announced his visit to Derventa, in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska, to Dodik and that Dodik did not have any problem with it, only to later tell him to no longer come to Republika Srpska if he plans to again do what he did during his visit.

Milanovic's move provoked harsh reactions from Serb political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which claimed that the unit he decorated had committed a number of war crimes.

Milanovic: Komsic a travesty of voters’ will

Milanovic and Becirovic also have different views on Zeljko Komsic, the Croat member of the BiH Presidency, who was elected to that position four times owing to the votes of the more numerous Bosniaks.

“It is truly a travesty of the voters’ will. That should not be allowed any more,” Milanovic said, adding that pressure by the Croatian state is necessary in that regard.

Milanovic believes that in the case of Komcic, Croatia has been proving that it wants people in Bosnia and Herzegovina to live normally.

“The extent to which that (Komsic's election) annoys Croats, including Croats in Croatia, shows a kind of sympathy for Bosnia and Herzegovina and a wish for people in BiH to live normally. When that stops being discussed, I will be worried about the silence,” he added.

In a restrained comment, Becirovic said that his colleagues on the BiH Presidency are “legally elected members of the BiH Presidency”, adding that he does not speak badly about his country abroad.

The Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency met with Milanovic as part of his working visit to Croatia, and later in the day he will also meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

Becirovic said that he wants to send a message that it is time to relax and improve relations between BiH and Croatia.

“It's time to build bridges of friendship between our two countries,” he said.

Milanovic said that it is in Croatia's interest for BiH to be a factor of stability and join the EU “within a reasonable period of time”, adding that Croatia “does not pose and never posed a threat” to BiH.