Russia threatens Bosnia if it joins NATO with a response from Moscow

The Russian ambassador to Bosnia Herzegovina, Igor Kalbukhov, warned that Moscow reserves a response in case the Balkan country decides to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), something that the Bosnian government condemned as a “clear threat”. ”.

“If (Bosnia-Herzegovina) decides to be a member of something, it is an internal thing. Another thing is our reaction. In the example of Ukraine we have shown what we expect. If there are threats, we will react,” Kalbukhov said in an interview on FTV television.

According to the Russian representative, it is the West that poses a threat to Bosnia and is lying by accusing Moscow of wanting to interfere in the country’s internal affairs.

“We don’t have any plans. We will respond having analyzed the strategic and geopolitical situation”, said the ambassador, who recalled that the country is divided on joining the Atlantic Alliance.

The rotating president of the collegiate leadership of Bosnia, the Croat Zeljko Komsic, condemned “in the strongest possible way” the words of the Russian diplomat.

“The Russian ambassador’s message that a reaction from Russia would follow, and he shows there the example of Ukraine, against which Russia sustains aggression, is an unambiguous and unacceptable threat to Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Komsic said.

According to Komsic, the Russian representative’s words pose “not only a threat to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also to peace and stability in the Western Balkans.”

The US embassy in Bosnia also criticized the Russian diplomat’s words as “dangerous, irresponsible and unacceptable” and stressed that “no third country has a say in security agreements between NATO and sovereign states.”

Bosnia is a country divided along ethnic lines and has a collegiate presidency in which a Croat, a Muslim and a Serb are represented.

The complicated administrative design of Bosnia, stemming from the Dayton peace accords to end the war (1992-1995), makes decision-making difficult due to the weakness of the central authorities.

The Bosnian Serb Republic is one of the two constituent entities of Bosnia Herzegovina together with the Muslim-Croat Federation, itself divided into ten cantons.

The political deadlock has prevented the necessary reforms from being brought closer to the European Union, while the Bosnian Serb authorities have stated that they will block any rapprochement with NATO, something Muslims and Croats long for.

Political tensions in Bosnia have increased in recent months, especially as a result of the secessionist plans of the Bosnian Serb leader, Milorad Dodik, who is very close to Russia, who threatened to withdraw from multi-ethnic institutions such as the armed forces.

On February 10, the Parliament of the Bosnian Serb autonomous entity backed the creation of its own judicial system, separate from the central one, in an unconstitutional step within Dodik’s separatist plan.