“Change the geopolitical alignment.” Bosnian Muslims are proposed to be made allies of Moscow
The Russian authorities have realized the importance of involving Russian Muslim leaders in building difficult relations with Muslims in the Balkans.
The founder of the project writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, in Nezavisimaya Gazeta "Balkanist", Director of the Progressive Policy Foundation Oleg Bondarenko.
He characterizes the first visit of the official delegation of the Republic of Tatarstan, headed by the head of the region Rustam Minnikhanov, to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which began on April 14 as “historic in nature.”
“After all, for many years, domestic Balkanists, including the author of these lines, have called for the use of the internal Russian Islamic factor in building relations with Balkan Muslims. And in this sense, the composition of the delegation is indicative - it included the chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Tatarstan, the head of the Investment Development Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic, the managing director of Kazan Helicopter Plant JSC and the management of the Russian Helicopters holding company,” notes Bondarenko.
On the Bosnian side were the Chairman of the Presidium of BiH Milorad Dodik, members of the Presidium from Muslims and Croats Šefik Dzaferović and Zeljko Komsic, as well as the co-chairman of the Intergovernmental Russian-Bosnian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Staša Košarac.
“The beginning of the practice of such visits suggests that Moscow has finally realized the importance of involving Russian Muslim leaders in building difficult relations with Muslims in the Balkans. After all, the unique Russian experience of peaceful and harmonious coexistence of Orthodox, Muslims, Buddhists and representatives of other religions in the Volga region and the North Caucasus could be extremely useful in this explosive region,” the Balkanist is convinced.
According to him, for now Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia are competing for the role of the most influential and authoritative Islamic leaders in BiH.
“The appearance of Russia among them could significantly change the geopolitical alignment in the region, making local Muslims allies of Moscow. Obviously, this will be opposed by the above countries, seeking to make BiH their European office. We can only hope that the heads of Chechnya, Dagestan, Bashkiria and other Russian Muslim regions will follow the Tatar leader’s visit to Sarajevo,” Bondarenko sums up.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.