Suljagić: While Bakir and Milorad use BiH to achieve greater goals, in me they have an opponent

Emir Suljagić, candidate for the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency from the DF, recently sharply criticized Bakir Izetbegović, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, due to his involvement in the campaign of Tayyip Erdogan, writes the news agency Patria.

Responding to the question of whether BiH should have countries with which it has close relations, or whether he considers excessive ties with the interests of any other country a mistake, Suljagić said that BiH must have a Bosnian-Herzegovinian foreign policy, not a vassal one.

- Our policy must be based exclusively on our interests. We have a number of friendly countries with which we should deepen relations. However, we should by no means risk our relations with friendly countries for personal and party preferences. Erdogan is certainly a friend of BiH, as were all leaders of the Republic of Turkey before him, and the good relations between our two countries do not depend on who leads those countries. But his flag is not our flag. Our only flag is the flag of our state, Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose integrity and sovereignty we paid for with blood – says Suljagić.

He added that if he wins the elections, his foreign policy will be based on the libertarian spirit of the BiH people of all faiths and ethnicities, which we have shown from the uprising of Husein-kapetan Gradaščević to the last war in which, after centuries of aspirations, we realized our right to a state.

- I will not sacrifice even our smallest interest and goal for the sake of some other greater goal that has nothing to do with our country and its citizens. I am closer to every current resident of Trebinje and Banja Luka, even if I disagree with them on many things, than to anyone outside BiH. Anyone for whom BiH, or a part of it, is merely an instrument for achieving some greater goal unrelated to BiH has in me an eternal opponent. And it is not at all important whether his name is Milorad or Bakir – added Suljagić, specifying that he will continue where Željko Komšić left off.

- Our country is much more than a simple sum of three tribes, as some wish to present it, and I want to continue explaining that to everyone in the world. Furthermore, we must be aware that our economic situation dictates that we open a dialogue with countries about which we have no consensus within the BiH Presidency. We must be pragmatic and understand that our companies have a chance to export to the market of the Republic of Kosovo. Therefore, I plan to go to Pristina to renew relations with that state, even though we unfortunately do not recognize it. Of course, the fact is that we have no closer countries than Belgrade, Podgorica and Zagreb, and with them we must build friendly relations based on mutual respect and horizontal cooperation at the state level. NATO integration will be the priority task for everyone in the country in the next four years, and it is certain that I will use my excellent relations with friends of BiH in Washington to accelerate that process. Berlin and Paris are the other two key countries from which we must receive full support in order to make that crucial step forward that this country has been waiting for since the fall of the April package in 2006 – added Suljagić.