Bosnia & Herzegovina should decide on NATO themselves – Lavrov
Published: 05 November, 2009, 21:17
Edited: 09 November, 2009, 10:51
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) is welcomed by his Bosnian counterpart Sven Alkalaj before their meeting in Sarajevo November 5, 2009 (AFP Photo / Getty Images)
(5.2Mb) embed videoTAGS: Meeting, NATO, Russia, Politics, Europe
A decision on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to NATO is up to that country’s people to make, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference in Sarajevo.
However, he added, this should be preceded by the closing of the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lavrov added.
“I have congratulated Bosnia and Herzegovina on the election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Bosnia and Herzegovina will vote independently. I hope it will make sovereign decisions rather than wait for approval from higher representatives,” the Russian Foreign Minister said.
The Presidium of Bosnia and Herzegovina unanimously voted for the country’s accession to NATO, according to Bosnian Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj.
He said there is no alternative to integration into NATO and 75% of the country’s population support this, he noted.
“Within this council, decisions were made, upheld by both Bosnian entities and the three state-forming nations, which contain the principles and criteria required to transform the office of the High Representative, abolish the Bonn Accords, and let the Bosnians decide on all issues pertaining to Bosnia's future, without any external supervision. It is a long-overdue step that is necessary for strengthening Bosnian statehood and putting the fate of Bosnia in the hands of the Bosnians.
As for Bosnia's future accession to any international structures, this is up to the Bosnian parties to decide. Before addressing that, however, it would be logical to urgently settle the matter of canceling the mandate of the High Representative and canceling the Bonn Accords, which have started to become an obstacle in the way of Bosnian statehood. This is necessary to allow the Bosnians to take their own, sovereign, not internationally imposed, decisions on their foreign policy.
This doesn’t mean that the international community will forget Bosnia. There is a coordinated scheme for establishing the office of a special EU representative, which will ensure smooth transition to such a model of interaction with the international community that will not imply interference in the internal affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
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The majority of people support BiH joining NATO? This is absurd! Let them do a nationwide referendum first, and let us see. Politicians cannot do anything else. They are under direct control of the High Representative, that is, a Western imposed viceroy that has the powers to REMOVE elected politicians if they say anything contrary to the Viceroy's wishes. Bosnia in Security Council? Bosnia make "independent" decisions? Bosnia is a protectorate, and its two halfs do not see eye to eye on many things. The Federation's Moslems, as a result of late Izetbegovic's folly, became captive to Western diktat, in the name of "protection". Croatia is already in NATO, and Croat territory of BiH, is already well integrated with the mother country, Croatia. The only hope Izebegovic's heirs have of keeping the country is to see to this that Serb Republic does not get integrated into Serbia the way Croatian portion of the Federation is. This is how Sarajevo hardliners see their "independence" --- defined by the utter dependence on the "international community" that will forever put a straight jacket on Serbian part of the Republic. Well, forever is a strange concept. It comes to an end sooner then one thinks. That will happen to Sarajevo's dependency. Lavrov's hints will not bear fruit here. Dependent governance is the most helpless creation; it is forced to take their from from the "protectors", until the well dries up. Bosnia need to have a census, and Sarajevo should stop blocking it. And then, it needs to come clean on conspiring to put in jail Fikret Abdic in Croatia. Census should determine exactly the impact of the war on populations. And the issue of Fikret Abdic will not go away. He was an independent Bosnian leader with support among both Moslem and Serbian populace. West may have found eager Croatia to put him in jail, but the shame of holding political prisoner will not go away.
Austro-Hungarian Empire is dead, but only on the paper. EU with NATO is taking the same role in Bosnia, and that is not going to look nice in the end. Bosnia is not a country, it is forcibly kept together to be swallowed by NATO and kept under control. It is in effective occupation even at this moment, but it is not officially part of the alliance and therefore still has a chance of slipping out. Serbian province in Bosnia is against NATO as is Serbia and most of the people, forget about what politicians say to the media: politicians are set up by the high representative dictator. Bosnia is the biggest money-laundering scheme for NGOs and western politicians since WW2.