Norwegian Ambassador told Helez that RS is preparing secession and did not promise NATO support, other diplomats asked Zukan to remain silent

(Patria) - "I wouldn't talk about that, it's not a story for the public," Defense Minister of BiH Zukan Helez will write to us in a short message after we asked him if the Norwegian Ambassador to BiH Olav Reinertsen told him last week that Republika Srpska plans to secede and that BiH, to paraphrase, cannot expect much help from the West, writes Istraga.ba.

"He didn't say exactly that," Helez will reply, not wanting to reveal what exactly the Norwegian Ambassador said that was problematic.

The website of the Ministry of Defense of BiH states that Minister Helez met with Ambassador Reinertsen on January 12.

"The interlocutors discussed bilateral military cooperation between BiH and Norway and the engagement of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in BiH as the contact embassy for the NATO alliance in our country. The political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was also discussed," the statement published after the meeting stated.

However, according to Istraga's information, Minister Helez was visibly disappointed after the meeting with the Norwegian Ambassador. Reinertsen, according to our findings, reacted very mildly to the story about the secession of RS, even though Norway is the contact embassy for the NATO alliance in our country.

That evening (Friday, January 12), Zukan Helez planned to guest on Centralni Dnevnik on Face TV. According to Istraga's information, officials from another NATO member embassy waited for the Minister of Defense of BiH in front of the entrance to the building where the television station is located and warned him not to publicly disclose information from the meeting with the Norwegian Ambassador, and that BiH can expect NATO support in case of RS secession.

And Minister Helez listened. In the interview on Face TV, he did not say everything that the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway told him that day. When we asked him for all the details from this text on Wednesday, Minister Helez refused to comment on anything.

Four days later, Ambassador Olav Reinertsen traveled to Banja Luka, where he met with the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik.

"I spoke today with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to BiH, Olav Reinertsen, and expressed the full commitment of the institutions of Republika Srpska to internal dialogue, preserving peace and stability, with consistent respect for the Dayton Agreement and the Constitution of BiH.

I reiterated the clear position that Republika Srpska rejects any action by Christian Schmidt as High Representative, as he was not confirmed by the UN Security Council as stipulated by the Dayton Peace Agreement. Also, I emphasized that the issue of property was resolved by the Dayton Peace Agreement and that property belongs to the entities," Dodik announced after the meeting with Reinertsen.

Incidentally, this is not the first diplomatic scandal of the Norwegian Ambassador. According to Deutsche Welle, Ambassador Reinertsen warned environmental organizations last year to remain silent about the exploitation of BiH's mineral resources by foreign companies. In this specific case, it concerned Vareš and the company Adriatic Metals.

"This is a domestic international joint venture," Tihomir Dakić from the Center for Environmental Protection told DW, citing the visit of the American, British, and Norwegian ambassadors a few months ago to "Adriatic Metals," a company for the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources – zinc and lead in the area of the municipality of Vareš. The visitors, as reported by the media at the time, "were impressed by the economic revival of Vareš."

"30 associations sent a letter to the ambassadors in BiH afterwards, and we still haven't received a response. In the meantime, we received quite open criticism from the Norwegian Ambassador, asking us where we got the right to complain when we are working on an environmental protection project that they are financing," Dakić said, adding that this casts a completely different light on the interests in mining in BiH.