Konaković's Diplomacy: Facebook Status Sent to Serbian Minister Dačić as an Open Letter

(Patria) - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konaković sent an open letter on July 29, 2024, to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Ivica Dačić. However, before this letter, Konaković posted the same content on his private Facebook profile this morning, which the media had already reported.

“Dear Minister Dačić,

Regarding your media statements about the Agreement between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on police cooperation, and how it is normal for police structures to cooperate throughout the region, you, Minister Dačić, cannot speak about this as long as your police structures, together with the judiciary in Serbia, are hiding dozens of war criminals that our country is seeking, for whom Interpol warrants have been issued.

As long as you protect the murderer of Tuzla's youth, war criminal Novak Đukić, you cannot lecture anyone on morality. As long as your children in Novi Sad are treated by Dr. Death Duško Kornjača, whom our judiciary accuses of the worst crimes in Čajniče, it is hypocritical to talk about normal cooperation. Extradite Ećim, Savčić, and dozens of other criminals who sowed death across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and only then can we talk about 'normal cooperation.'

Two female students who glorified war criminals in our country and wrote 'we didn't kill enough of you' were rewarded by your security system led by Vulin with scholarships, and today they proudly walk through Belgrade. To you, that is a 'normal relationship'; to me, it is abnormal, I do not accept it, and I do not believe in your good intentions.

I believe even less in the good intentions of President Vučić, who tried with a dirty campaign full of lies to stop the adoption of the resolution on the genocide committed in Srebrenica, in which, thank God, he did not succeed. We are neighbors, dependent on each other, who must cooperate in many fields for the interests of our citizens, but I will not pretend to enjoy it or look forward to it, not even out of diplomatic courtesy, as long as you behave as I have previously described.

I consider the agreement harmful for our country as long as members of your police can freely do whatever they want in our country in cooperation with entity and cantonal agencies, the same police that protects and shelters war criminals and bans our actors and singers from entering Serbia. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a democratic country, and we will use all available procedures and tools to improve an agreement that is harmful and bad for us.

Why Komšić and Izetbegović allowed you to form joint teams with entity and cantonal police without the consent of state authorities is not clear to me. Their superficiality, amateurism, or some interest—they know that, and perhaps you do too, since you are a participant in the process.

Why they allowed you to send covert investigators to Bosnia and Herzegovina who have jurisdiction over the entire territory of the country is not clear to me. So far, I have proven and shown on countless occasions that I am a man of cooperation and that I hate no one. I came to your country with an outstretched hand, wanting to improve relations for the benefit of our citizens and the entire Western Balkan region. I have met with you multiple times at various forums and had fair and open conversations.

Hand over Đukić, Kornjača, Ećim, Savčić, and other criminals to us, or put them in prison where they belong, respect the victims of genocide and international law, educate students, the new generation in Serbia not to glorify war criminals. This is a concrete step towards normalizing relations.

Keep your moral lectures for each other; bypass us in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Konaković stated in the official letter to Dačić.