Ivanić: BiH can join NATO only if and when Serbia joins

Chairman of the BiH Presidency Mladen Ivanić said that BiH can join NATO only if and when Serbia joins the alliance, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

- There can be no clearer stance than that. Any other option would imply the division of the Serb people. We do not need referendums. This topic should not even be opened, because there are no conditions for BiH's membership in NATO as long as Serbia is not in that alliance - Ivanić said in an interview for the Serbian "Politika".

When asked if BiH can pursue a policy that is not burdened by taking sides, Ivanić said that it can, and that is by "pursuing its own policy, looking after its own interests".

- Our interest is to have correct relations with Russia, as well as good relations with the EU. If they force us to choose one, then they are no longer our friend - Ivanić said.

Ivanić stated that he advocates for the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in BiH to be completely shut down.

- There will never again be agreement for the OHR to resort to the Bonn powers, because there are no conditions for that. The presence of the OHR is more a desire of some international actors to be present in BiH, without being reduced only to the level of an embassy - Ivanić said.