Sarajevo without a response while maps of BiH are being drawn in Zagreb: Sabolić can sleep soundly with Konaković

By Delvin Kovač

The urgent call for a meeting with the Croatian Ambassador to BiH, Ivan Sabolić, is not a matter of political luxury. It is the bare minimum. A reflex of a state that respects itself. And the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, Elmedin Konaković, simply lacks that reflex.

Because while new maps of Bosnia and Herzegovina are being drawn in Zagreb, the minister remains silent. A day later - he records a video. Not from his institution, not in front of the BiH flag, but from a restaurant or hotel. As if commenting on a match, not a political scandal.

He says he cannot react to every foolishness. True, he cannot. But he must know the difference between foolishness and danger. Because every drawing of maps of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not foolishness. It is a political message, a test, a provocation. An assessment of how far one can go.

And the delayed response is already a response. Even worse, the minister performs a somersault in the same address. First, he says the gathering is irrelevant, and then he calls it scandalous. If it's irrelevant - why the diplomatic note? If it's scandalous - why the silence?

This is not diplomacy, it is improvisation. And improvisation is a luxury that serious countries do not allow themselves.

Interestingly, however, the minister has no problem with speed when he needs to respond to domestic critics. Then there is no waiting, no thinking. No "I cannot react to everything." Then statuses are written, videos are recorded, words and minutes are counted.

In other words - he reacts when it is personal, not when it is state-related. And that reveals everything.

Especially when the talk about "strengthening institutions" begins. That already sounds like a bad joke. Because which institutions? Those that have been handed over to the control of Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović through political agreements? Or those that cannot make decisions due to blockades?

Institutions are not strengthened by words, but by decisions. And there were no decisions here - at least not on time.

The minister has been leading diplomacy for the fourth year. And the only place where his continuity is visible is on social media. There he is fast, present, engaged, there he is not late.

A country is not run through social media. Diplomacy is not content for a two-minute viewing. Nor is it a personal communication channel. It is a system, a reaction, a signal.

And when that signal is absent - others begin to send their own. And that is why the problem is not with those who draw maps in Zagreb, because such people will always exist. The problem is that no response comes from Sarajevo that makes them irrelevant. And when a state starts to be late in its own defense, others no longer ask for permission.

Let's also add that the former Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Cardinal Vinko Puljić, was also present at the gathering in Zagreb, who suddenly changed his tune and whose statements passed without any reaction or disavowal from the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Archbishop Tomo Vukšić.

And the absence of clear distancing raises the question - are such views tacitly tolerated or considered acceptable? And in the politically sensitive context of BiH, silence very often sounds like a stance.