Vogel: RS borders were artificially created through ethnic cleansing

The European Union is desperately seeking any strategy for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Croatian initiative has only filled that vacuum, told the BH news agency Patria (NAP) Tobi Vogel, a journalist and columnist for the respected newspaper European Voice based in Brussels.

- It seems that this initiative also has some support from the US administration and structures within the European Union. I think it's an interesting idea – says Vogel.

However, commenting on the idea of Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić to allow BiH to sign the full Stabilization and Association Agreement without fulfilling the conditions, Vogel says he does not understand that concept.

- I don't understand why political leaders who rejected the Sejdić-Finci reform, even though they would have been rewarded with the SAA coming into force for it, would now suddenly accept that same reform after receiving the same reward. I understand that conditionality policy may not work in BiH, but I don't see why abandoning conditions would change anything – says Vogel.

According to him, US President Barack Obama and European officials did not discuss the situation in BiH at the recent summit, although conclusions were reached.

- It is still not such a big issue, although it is urgent to revise the policy towards BiH – emphasizes Vogel.

Speaking about drawing parallels between the situation in Crimea and Republika Srpska, Vogel says there is a similarity in the fact that "in neither area is there any discrimination against the majority people by the state they are part of".

- The key difference between RS and Crimea is that this part of Ukraine is a coherent region, while the borders of RS were artificially created through ethnic cleansing and military campaigns. If the centuries-long presence of Russians in Crimea gives them the "right" to that region, what right does RS have to, for example, the Drina Valley? – says Vogel.