'No consensus on Kosovo's participation in European Championship in Sarajevo'

(Patria) - The request from the BiH Basketball Federation, seeking visas for members of the Kosovo national team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, was delivered in the afternoon hours of 08.07.2018, along with information that the arrival of the Kosovo national team was planned for 08.08.2018, which indicates the obvious untimeliness of the request, it was announced today from the Ministry.  

"Since the current bylaws stipulate that the Ministry responds to visa applications within three days, requests received in the afternoon hours of 07.08.2018 are still under consideration," it was announced.

The European Championship of Division B for basketball players under 16 begins today in Sarajevo. Bosnia and Herzegovina is scheduled to play against Kosovo on Friday at 18:45, but the Kosovo national team players have not been granted visas to enter BiH.

"On 09.08.2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH received an additional statement from the BiH Basketball Federation, from which it follows that there is no consensus within the Federation regarding the participation of the Kosovo national team in the championship in question, which was also confirmed in direct conversations with some members of the highest bodies of the BiH Basketball Federation and the Basketball Federation of Republika Srpska. In the aforementioned conversations, direct opposition was expressed by representatives of Republika Srpska to the participation of the Kosovo national team in the current European Basketball Championship being held in Sarajevo.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH is of the opinion that the promotion of sports cooperation at the internal, regional, and international levels provides immeasurable benefits for the development of sports and the general improvement of young people's lives, as evidenced by the recent facilitation of the participation of the Kosovo volleyball team in the Balkan Volleyball Championship held in Bijeljina, during which, with the consent of the BiH Volleyball Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH issued the necessary visas to all participants of the competition within the stipulated deadlines.

However, the lack of a unified stance within the BiH Basketball Federation regarding the organization of the competition and the participation of the Kosovo national team in it, leads to the transfer of potential responsibility and the establishment of an obligation for arbitration to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, which is not and must not be responsible for any disagreements within sports associations in BiH," it was announced from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH.