Radončić: RS company violated international conventions, business suspended

(Patria) - Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina Fahrudin Radončić, as a guest on Face TV, spoke about the information presented on the same television by the leader of SDS and former Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Šarović regarding a company in RS engaged in a "dangerous business".

Radončić stated that it was about "ordinary speculation, conjecture, and half-truths".

"I was put in a situation where I had to react as the Minister of Security. I don't think it's right for Mr. Šarović to say something that was a state secret until five or ten minutes ago, without prior agreement with at least the security structures," Radončić said, adding:

"The secret, which is no longer a secret, is that a certain company from Republika Srpska was violating international conventions, namely the sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States on trade with Iran. There is no spectacular chemical weapon, no such nonsense. There is one person who officially and formally discussed this matter with Mr. Dodik, and that person's name is Fahrudin Radončić. As you recall, I had a working visit to Banja Luka last week, we discussed Europol with Mr. Dragan Lukač, we discussed Frontex, the migrant crisis, and we directly discussed this topic with Dodik. Unlike Šarović's narrative, as an opposition member, there was no arm-twisting or pressure. I informed Mr. Dodik of the data we and our international partners possess, and I must tell you that he, as a member of the Presidency, reacted very responsibly. Dodik, in my presence, asked to be connected with the responsible persons of that company and very directly and precisely prohibited any business with that country," Radončić stated.

According to Žurnal, the company is from Zvornik. The BiH Presidency has been informed about everything, and international police and intelligence agencies are involved in the investigation, the portal reports.

"The fact is that the business was immediately suspended and that we had a very responsible reaction from the RS authorities to have that business immediately suspended. That problem was resolved immediately. I regret that we found ourselves in a situation to explain this to the public."

Last week, Radončić also discussed this issue with the Iranian ambassador to BiH.

"I warned him that BiH conducts its security policy and sanctions policy towards Iran in accordance with the EU's foreign policy and our greatest strategic partner, the US government. You saw at the end of the statement that I suggested to him that local embassy staff in Sarajevo should not engage in managerial activities when it comes to any trade. God forbid that this cooperation had continued, we would have jeopardized our vital national interest because we could have ended up under sanctions. With our reaction, and also with Milorad Dodik's reaction, we have avoided the zone where we could be under sanctions," the BiH Minister of Security emphasized.

In a statement sent to the media on Monday from the Ministry of Security of BiH, after the meeting between Radončić and the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to BiH, Mahmoud Heidari, it was stated that Minister Radončić emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina follows the foreign policy of the European Union, including the EU's restrictive measures against the IR Iran, i.e., economic and financial sanctions, which relate to the export of certain goods.

"Minister Radončić stressed that BiH, for its own economic and diplomatic interests, as well as geostrategic circumstances, cannot jeopardize its national interests and strategic partnerships, and in this regard, expects adequate understanding from the Embassy of the IR Iran in Sarajevo and its staff," the statement read.