Coordinated attacks by Grlić Radman and Lavrov on BiH

(Patriia) - The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Croatia and Russia, Gordan Grlić Radman and Sergey Lavrov, held a meeting in Moscow today, and besides numerous topics and relations between the two countries, they also discussed BiH. 

"Regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, both Russia and Croatia are concerned about its stability and functionality. I expressed gratitude for the shared opinion that Dayton-Paris BiH is necessary to ensure the equality and equal rights of the three constituent peoples. Only a stable BiH that implies constitutionality can have its future," said Radman.

When asked by journalists what message he conveyed to Lavrov regarding BiH, Radman replied that Croatia, as an EU member, shares the longest border with BiH and is a signatory to the Dayton-Paris Agreement.

"In BiH, Croats, as an indigenous people, are a constituent people. But since 2000, various commissioners have changed the election law, which has been detrimental to the Croatian people. Through so-called creeping reforms. Namely, in the spirit of the Dayton Agreement, BiH is one state, two entities, and three equal constituent peoples. Now it is necessary to work on amending the election law that will remove all forms of discrimination and inequality in the electoral process in order to enable political legitimacy for the representation of constituent peoples in collective bodies, the Presidency, and the House of Peoples. We discussed this with Lavrov, and I think he also agreed with it." 

The head of Russian diplomacy, Lavrov, when asked about BiH, said that, like his Croatian counterpart, Russia advocates for strict adherence to the Dayton Agreement.

"Today, there are plans to transform BiH from a state with two entities and three constituent peoples into a unitary state. And under the mentorship of the USA, Republika Srpska is being demonized. The discrimination of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Croats is evident. The electoral reform must be completed now based on the Dayton Agreement. It is illustrative that, despite all the emphasis on not interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, the USA has appointed its special envoy for the implementation of BiH's electoral reform."

He reiterated that the US approach to the Western Balkans is very illustrative and expressed the opinion that all issues must be resolved within BiH. He expressed hope that the EU would help BiH return to the origins of the Dayton Agreement. 

"I hope that the EU will no longer treat the Western Balkans as its sphere of influence. Namely, a few years ago, Ms. Mogherini, as the head of EU diplomacy, emphasized that the Western Balkans is the EU's sphere of influence, where the EU will act and will not allow anyone else to come there. These examples are illustrative and related to the negotiations we are currently conducting on security guarantees," Lavrov replied.