Bosnian Foreign Minister Strongly Criticizes Serbia: You Are Hiding Criminals

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, participated in Antalya at the Third Ministerial Meeting of the regional initiative "Platform for Peace in the Balkans".

At the panel, which was also attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, he harshly criticized the stance of the Serbian leadership led by Aleksandar Vucic towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He highlighted the main differences. Speaking about mutual relations, Konakovic stressed that countries in the region do not have to love each other to be good neighbors, but that honesty and responsibility are key to building trust.

"We cannot lie and expect trust. After everything that happened during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which I call aggression, relations have been damaged. If war criminals are hiding or glorifying, we cannot talk about good neighborly relations," Konakovic said.

He specifically targeted political movements from Serbia, criticizing the fact that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić invited officials of the entity's convicted former president Milorad Dodik to a press conference.

"If you have a press conference and you respect Bosnia and Herzegovina, why did Vucic invite the convicted Dodik to stand next to him at the press conference and then send a message that he will have the strongest army in the region?"

"Zeljko Cvijanovic and Dodik stood next to him in Belgrade. He invited the convicted former president to stand next to him and spoke about the strongest army in the region. Is this respect? Is it correct," Konakovic asked.

However, he stressed that there is room for cooperation, especially in the field of infrastructure projects, where there is a common interest of all countries in the region.

At the end of his speech, Konakovic reiterated that he is ready for dialogue, but with clear respect for the facts and responsibilities from the past.