The statement by Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, who according to Russian media said western weapons intended for Ukraine have been smuggled into Bosnia and Herzegovina is not true, the Croat member of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency, Zeljko Komsic, told N1.

Komsic’s statement comes after the Russian News Agency TASS reported that Zakharova said that western countries are not taking into account that shipments of weapons intended for Ukraine could lead to the expansion of the black market of weapons in Western Europe, and alleged that some weapons from Ukraine have already been smuggled to BiH, Albania and Kosovo.

“This is not true because the West supplies Ukraine with the most modern weapons and tools. It is not true that this entered BiH,” he said, arguing that such a statement represents another attempt by Moscow to draw attention to other regions.

Komsic also spoke about the ‘Open Balkan’ initiative, saying that, while he does support the idea of cooperation, the idea of this particular initiative is “wrong.”

“It is wrong because there are other regional initiatives such as the Berlin Process. This is where these European standards are sought as a kind of preparation for the EU. A large sum of money is behind the Berlin Process, 30 billion euros. The “Open Balkan” is quite undefined. It offers nothing new, even the criteria are lower than for the Berlin Process,” he said.

However, Komsic also said that the issue “raises a million questions” in BiH and that it might be perceived as an attempt to advocate a “Serbian and Albanian world”.

“It seems to me that the Berlin Process is much better than the ‘Open Balkans’,” he said.