Croatian Ambassador to UN Ivan Simonovic along with a group of Bosnian Croat parties gathered around the Croat National Council (HNS) denied BiH Ambassador to UN Sven Alkalaj’s claims that the High Representative colluded with Croatia to make amendments to BiH ELection Law, calling him a Bosniak puppet, while Serbian representative gave an appeasing neutral statement saying that Bosnia’s stability is in Serbia’s interest.
Croatian representative Ivan Simonovic said that there are forces in Bosnia “that question the Dayton [Peace Agreement] and want domination.”
“We support the work of [High Representative] Christian Schmidt. Now it's time for constitutional reforms to make decisions that will lead to legitimate representation at all levels, as well as the right of all citizens to be elected. We call on the relevant political actors to take responsibility and to form governments as soon as possible”, he said.
The Croatian representative pointed out that BiH Ambassador Sven Alkalaj made serious accusations against Schmidt and Croatia that they worked together on changes to the Election Law, rejecting such allegations.
“Schmidt made the decision independently and intervened only according to his mandate. He deserves our support, not criticism and accusations” Simonovic said.
At the end of his address, he said that Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina were denied their “legitimate representative” in the BiH Presidency for the fourth time and that they did not vote for Zeljko Komsic, falsely concluding that this violates the Dayton Agreement.
Alkalaj – “a puppet of radical Bosniaks”
The HNS BiH noted that Alkalaj did not speak on behalf of the state of BiH, and especially not on behalf of the Croat constituent people, falsely accusing him of being a “puppet of the most radical Bosniaks” – a term this Non-Governmental Organisation centered around the centre-right, ethnic oriented, Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) uses to discredit pro-Bosnian parties supporting the one-man-one-vote principle.
“With his last statement in his personal capacity, Alkalaj received the support of only the most radical Bosniak representatives who continuously advocate the violation of the Dayton Agreement, thus proving once again that he is their puppet. The unilateral imposition of the radical Bosniak foreign policy of the Democratic Action Party (SDA) and Bisera Turkovic (the BiH Foreign Minister) and the usurper of the position of the Croat member of the Presidency (Zeljko Komsic) in the last four years irreparably damage the reputation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and relations with our most important partners,” the HNS said.
They also accused Alkalaj of “blatant lies” against the High Representative and his office, Croatian political parties and neighbouring countries.
The HNS BiH once again called on all “legitimate political representatives” to urgently form the government, stabilize the political situation in the country and adopt limited amendments to the Constitution of BiH so that all citizens, regardless of their identity, can run for office in the elections in accordance with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.
Serbia supports BiH’s territorial integrity
Serbian representative Nemanja Stevanovic falsely emphasized once again that Serbia is a guarantor of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and that a stable BiH is in their interest.
“We have the opportunity to emphasize the preservation of the principle of territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Given that the elections were held recently, we hope that the government will be formed quickly. We want to strengthen our dialogue with institutions in Sarajevo. We will strengthen the cooperation with the Federation (FBiH) entity and Serbia will be a reliable partner in order to strengthen the cooperation to mutual satisfaction. We are the guarantor of the Dayton Agreement. We expect better results and do not want to underestimate what has been done so far,” he said.
“Serbia believes that consensus is the only way to solve problems through dialogue. Serbia respects the right of every state to create international politics and security, and this applies to our relations with BiH.”
Stevanovic concluded by saying that “Serbia believes that consensus is the only way to solve problems through dialogue. Serbia respects the right of every state to create international and security policies, and this applies to our relations with BiH.”
