BiH's Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic on Friday said that Russia's influence in the country and the region is bigger than ever and called on the West to step up its engagement, including maintaining the full powers of the  Office of the High Representative (OHR).

“I responsibly claim that there is more malignant influence (of Russia) in BiH than ever, it is still present in the region,” Konakovic told local media.

He warned that Russian influence is particularly visible through the actions of Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, who, as he says, keeps moving away from European circles.

BiH's Foreign Minister made the statement in response to attacks due to a letter he sent to the Council for the Implementation of Peace in BiH (PIC) member states and to the European Union agencies.

The minister requested that they make sure that the functioning of the OHR continues with its existing executive powers until the goals and benchmarks set in 2008, are met, which include an assessment that the situation in BiH is completely safe and stable.

The High Representative in BiH has the authority to impose laws and replace elected officials, which particularly bothers Russia, which fully supports the efforts of Bosnian Serb politicians to close the OHR as soon as possible so that they can implement the policy of weakening BiH as a state without fear of sanctions.

Konakovic said that he sent the letter asking for the OHR to remain because he is aware that rumours exist in the EU of opening the topic of abolishing the position of the high representative, and, as he claims, he openly warned about this at the last ministerial meeting of foreign affairs of EU member states held in Luxembourg.

“There are prescribed conditions (for closing the OHR), we need to stabilise relations in BiH and only then possibly think about what the representatives from RS have to say. It is what they are saying that compels us to protect the OHR at all costs,” he said.

In response, the RS accused him of trying to keep BiH in a “colonial status,” as stated by BiH Presidency member Zeljka Cvijanovic, even though Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik tried to be ironic by writing on the X social network that Konakovic is on the right track to return BiH to the Middle Ages.

The Russian Embassy in BiH joined them with a statement stating that by his (Konakovic) advocacy for the OHR to remain, he has proved incapable of making decisions on his own.