Russian threats that they would have to act in case BiH joins NATO is a hostile act, Alija Kozljak, former military representative of BiH to NATO, as well as the head of the department for international cooperation and European studies at Burch University, told N1, Friday.
Kozljak said that he announced something similar a few months ago when commenting on the election of Joe Biden as President of the United States.
“The intensity of all actors in the Western Balkans will change, including BiH. The ambassador's statement cannot be viewed as an isolated incident but in a broader context. It concerns a new change of the American administration in relation to Russia. This was confirmed by a series of other moves by the new American president,” Kozljak said.
Russian Embassy to Bosnia said in a statement on Thursday that Should Bosnia join NATO, they would be forced to act, seeing the NATO accession as a hostile act.
Kozljak recalled that Biden directly told Putin that he would be held accountable for what he did in the last US elections and Biden’s message to Germany to stop the North Stream, and similar messages go to US ambassadors – which they transmitted in the field.
“The same thing is happening on the Russian side and this is the interpretation of the Russian politics at the global level,” the military expert said.
He believes similar moves can be expected in time to come.
“What Russia can try to do is bring instability using its players in this region. It is not possible to stop one state that has declared itself through all legal processes and procedures and determined its policy towards NATO. The instability that Russia will try to introduce can be prevented by a quality dialogue,” Kozljak said.
In his opinion, Russia will bring instability to BiH, which no one needs. He believes that Russian influence in this area has intensified over the past 10 years when Europe was confused and the United States was dealing with itself. Russia's role is felt more significantly in Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and parts of BiH.
“Russia and Serbia are not doing anything by accident. It’s a joint move to save this region from the Euro-Atlantic umbrella. The only way to do this is through instability. These will be joint moves. They will be combined with soft diplomacy, donations, cultural events, the announcement of friendly relations, the intensification of some initiatives – and everything that would slow down BiH’s NATO accession,” he said.
He reiterated that no country can join the EU without joining NATO, adding that this can be a parallel process – but the EU will not accept BiH without NATO membership.
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