Lavrov found situational allies in Croatia on the Bosnian issue

During his visit to Croatia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took advantage of the strategy of Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who has been allied with the Croats against the Bosniak authorities in Sarajevo for many years.

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, enlisted the support of the Zagreb authorities in the Bosnian direction.

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According to a PolitNavigator correspondent, during his visit to Croatia, Sergei Lavrov discussed with his colleague, Croatian Foreign Minister Goran Grlic Radman, the situation in the Western Balkans “with an emphasis on Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“We have a common position here: we must strictly implement the Dayton agreements in their entirety, including ensuring equal rights of the three state-forming peoples and two entities (BiH),” Lavrov commented on the meeting. “We also confirmed the need for a speedy resolution of the Kosovo problem in strict accordance with Resolution 1244 [of the UN Security Council, which recognizes the sovereignty of Belgrade over Kosovo]. We are convinced that Pristina needs to fulfill its obligations, first of all, to create a Community of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo.”

In a conversation with a colleague, the Russian guest especially focused on the changes lobbied by Croatia to the Bosnian electoral legislation, so that Bosnian Croats, who do not have their own identity, could elect their own representatives to the country’s authorities - in the meantime, the Bosniak majority votes for them, choosing Croats loyal to Sarajevo, who are not popular with fellow tribesmen.

“As for the situation with the electoral legislation, here we absolutely agree with our Croatian colleagues; it needs to be reformed in such a way that each state-forming people elects its real representative to the structures that work in Sarajevo, primarily to the Presidium of BiH,” said the Russian minister .

Answering a question from a Croatian journalist whether Russia would demand military neutrality in BiH in exchange for supporting the aspirations of the Croatian community, Sergei Lavrov replied as follows:

“We don’t have the habit of prohibiting someone from doing something, BiH is an independent state, despite the fact that the protectorate of the so-called Supreme Representative remains over it, which has long become an atavism. BiH, in accordance with the Constitution and the Dayton Accords, must determine its own foreign policy.

And everyone must respect the decisions that BiH makes on the basis of the Dayton powers, which are well known. But this also presupposes that everyone must respect the positions of the three state-forming peoples. Without this, there is no BiH as a state. That is, respect the position taken by the Republika Srpska, which has declared its military neutrality.”

Also, during communication with Croatian colleagues, the parties touched upon relations between the EU and the Russian Federation, in which Zagreb expressed the initiative to play the role of a mediator.

“Our assessment is obvious, the facts show that the EU as a structure is not ready for normal relations with the Russian Federation, but this does not prevent us from developing equal and effective relations with our Croatian colleagues and friends,” Lavrov said.

When asked how he felt about the sharply pro-Ukrainian position of the Croatian leadership, in particular Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovic, Lavrov noted that on the issue of the “conflict in the East of Ukraine” both Moscow and Zagreb adhere to the position that there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements.