Can the MFA and the BiH Presidency 'tame' ambassadors with rules?

By: Rasim Belko

Ambassadors are high-ranking diplomats who serve as the main communicators between their home government and the host country. Their actions and tasks depend on the broader diplomatic context and the specific goals that the home country sets in relation to the host country.

Ambassadors are the main advocates for their country's interests in the host country. All ambassadors work in accordance with the instructions of their home government and act within the framework of international law and diplomatic norms.

This is the rule in regulated systems of orderly states. Bosnia and Herzegovina has neither an orderly internal system, let alone a system of diplomacy. Bosnia and Herzegovina is nowhere near as orderly as the countries of the European continent to which it belongs.

That is why the remaining image of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the outside world is often threatened by the highlighting of internal differences and disagreements. And this is again most often noticeable in the diplomatic-consular network.

How many times have we had the opportunity to read headlines stating that certain ambassadors refused to act on the orders or instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because, although the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only one with international subjectivity and capacity, its ambassadors are mostly representatives and conduits of entity policies that install them through state bodies in countries around the world.

The latest case is that of Aleksandar Vranješ, who thanked the director of the BIA, Aleksandar Vulin, and the state of Serbia for accepting the genocide deniers who spread hatred and expelled students into the faculty in Belgrade.

And then, when his responsibility for such conduct was discussed, Vranješ only responded to the leader of SNSD and the president of the RS entity, Milorad Dodik. And all of this is unpunished, because there are no rules regulating the principles and rules of work and behavior of our ambassadors in the world. Vranješ's scandal in Serbia is the second in a relatively short period, as in May the same ambassador caused a scandal during the visit of the member of the BiH Presidency, Denis Bećirović, to Croatia, accusing Bećirović of excluding him from the protocol due to his nationality, which Bećirović's Cabinet denied.

Given that Vranješ is the latest among equal scandals in the diplomatic network of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is clear that it is necessary to introduce, at least temporarily, measures and rules of conduct for our ambassadors in the countries to which they are sent.

The Law on Foreign Affairs is delicate due to the internal organization and relations, so it is difficult to expect that this law, even when it is eventually adopted, will solve the problem of the actions of our ambassadors in the world.

Therefore, proactive action is necessary to make the diplomatic network more serious and organized, thereby at least to some extent serving the interests of the state, as the definitions of ambassadors and diplomacy predict.

Considering that the adoption of the law on foreign affairs depends on internal policies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is on the move. This ministry should make a decision or regulation by which every candidate proposed for ambassador will have to sign two statements.

The first statement would relate to the obligation to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina and its interests according to the instructions of those responsible for conducting foreign policy. With the second statement, future ambassadors would agree to a kind of clause in the amount of 200,000 KM for any failure to act in accordance with the interests of the state and the instructions of the MFA and the BiH Presidency.

And every ambassador, regardless of who proposes them and what their nationality is, would have to sign both statements, and the MFA and the BiH Presidency would organize a commission to monitor the work of our ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives.

Because the behavior of Vranješ, as well as many others before him, is proof that the problem of the behavior of BiH ambassadors and other diplomats must be resolved.

Anything else will be a continuation of internal suffering on the foreign policy front, and the most responsible for such actions are the Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković and the members of the BiH Presidency.

Because, without rules of conduct for our ambassadors, it is futile to call them out and invite them. And when clear and applicable rules for everyone are defined, it will be easier to act against disobedient ambassadors.

Therefore, instead of lamenting the lack of rules and ways to punish ambassadors, it is time for the elected and appointed to take responsibility and start working to protect Bosnia and Herzegovina from such diplomats.