Russian Embassy and Čović's Office Arranged Private Meeting Between Lavrov and HDZ BiH President

In the last five days, since the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, to Bosnia and Herzegovina, new scandalous details about the visit of this high-ranking Russian official to our country emerge daily. As Fokus has learned, among them is the information that the meeting between Dragan Čović, Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament and leader of HDZ BiH, and Minister Lavrov did not take place within the framework of the program prepared by the Diplomatic Protocol Department of the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As confirmed to Fokus by the BiH MFA, prior to Lavrov's arrival in BiH, which is unusual in diplomatic practice, especially for high-ranking officials like the Russian head of diplomacy, it was not known that he would also meet with Čović.

"In the diplomatic correspondence that the Embassy of the Russian Federation submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH during the preparations for the visit, it was never stated that a meeting with Mr. Dragan Čović would be organized during the minister's visit, nor was the MFA of BiH asked to mediate in organizing such a meeting. Consequently, the meeting between Čović and Lavrov was not foreseen in the draft program prepared by the Diplomatic Protocol Department of the MFA of BiH and approved by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bisera Turković," stated the response from the BiH MFA.

The MFA further clarifies that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was informed about the Lavrov-Čović meeting only on Monday, December 14, the first day of Lavrov's visit to our country.

"On Monday, December 14, 2020, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of the Russian Federation informed the Ceremonial Department of the Diplomatic Protocol Department of the BiH MFA that a meeting had been arranged directly between the Embassy of the Russian Federation and Dr. Čović's Office after dinner with the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, and that no assistance from the Diplomatic Protocol Department of the MFA of BiH was needed, other than forwarding this information to the competent services responsible for the operational and security coverage of Minister Lavrov's stay," stated the BiH MFA.

It is evident that the Embassy of the Russian Federation, in this case, as stated by a source from the MFA who wishes not to "add fuel to the fire" already ignited by a series of scandals surrounding Minister Lavrov's visit, bypassed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and went beyond the established protocol.

Although the BiH MFA confirmed that the Lavrov-Čović meeting was facilitated by representatives of the Protocol Service of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly in cooperation with diplomatic staff of the Embassy of the Russian Federation, the fact that the meeting was not organized at the BiH Parliament but at the hotel where Lavrov was staying leads to the conclusion that Čović, in this case, was actually a guest of the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, not one of the hosts.

"We would like to note that for all events and meetings at Minister Lavrov's residence, in this case at the 'Evropa' hotel, during his stay, Minister Lavrov's Protocol and the Embassy of the Russian Federation are responsible," concluded the BiH MFA.

In what role was Brkić?

However, whether the MFA of BiH was bypassed during the Čović-Lavrov meeting is further complicated by the fact that Josip Brkić, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, also attended the meeting, effectively meeting Lavrov before the head of BiH diplomacy, Bisera Turković. This raises the question of how it is possible that the MFA of BiH was not aware of this meeting if the Deputy Minister attended it?

When asked to comment on the allegations that the MFA protocol did not include the mentioned meeting, while the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, Josip Brkić, attended it, he briefly stated:

"I have commented on the Čović-Lavrov meeting several times this week, and I have nothing new to add on the topic," Brkić stated.

When further pressed that he did not clarify in public statements regarding this meeting, nor in his response to our inquiry, whether he attended as a representative of HDZ or as a state official, Brkić did not respond.

The situations we have witnessed following the visit of a high-ranking official to our country have once again unfortunately revealed that the participants in power in BiH do not respect the relevant institutions and that it is still possible in this country to bypass both institutions and established protocols.