BiH MFA Responds to Serbia's Protest Note: Verification of Controversial Video Requested

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina today sent a response to the note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, which expressed protest due to the published video of the burning of the flag of the Republic of Serbia, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

In its response, the BiH MFA strongly condemns the act of burning the flag as an inappropriate act of vandalism and an attempt to desecrate the state symbols of a sovereign and friendly country.

- The Ministry also notes that the competent authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been asked to verify the existence of any evidence of the origin of the controversial video on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to take all necessary measures to find and legally punish the perpetrators of this offense.

The note from the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs was handed over to the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Sarajevo.

We remind you that on July 29, the MFA of Serbia handed over a protest note to the BiH Embassy in Serbia due to the content of a video that was published online, showing unidentified and armed individuals burning the flags of the Republic of Serbia.

The Patria news agency has unofficial information from OSA and SIPA that the video was made in March this year, and that it was published on a Facebook profile, which is (indicatively) deactivated a few days ago, by someone presenting themselves as Izet Hamza.

Furthermore, our sources say, based on the information collected so far, the video was most likely made in one of the forests in the Sandžak region, and the author could be the person who deactivated their FB profile. The only thing connecting the video and the people in it to BiH is the former state flag with lilies, which has not been in official use since 1998, and the song heard in the background.