Bakir Izetbegovic saying that he hopes Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) will recognize Kosovo represented “a dangerous provocation.”
This is according to former US Ambassador to Serbia William Montgomery.
Montgomery added that he “hoped the international community will react strongly and condemn this statement.”
“There is a history of instability, which includes BiH, Kosovo and Macedonia, and Serbia has for several years been a factor of stability in the region, and this is very important, but in the long run, Serbia cannot make this region stable alone. Help is needed from the region and the international community, but I don’t see the will, desire and energy of the international community to take steps to make these countries more stable,” he told RTS.
Meanwhile, Serbian media reported on number of reactions from the Serbian officials on the above-mentioned Izetbegovic’s statement.
Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic told b92 that Izetbegovic’s statement would have “far-reaching consequences.”
“This interview complicates many (things) in the region,” Vucic said to journalists, adding if he would tell that Republic of Srpska should be recognized then he would end up in The Hague.
Serbian Government Office for Kosovo Director, Marko Djuric told BETA that Izetbegovic’s statement is “shocking and scandalous,” and “that Serbia would soon find the way to give a proper response to such statement”.
Chair of the Serbian Assembly Committee for Kosovo, Milovan Drecun told B92 that Izetbegovic’s statement “showed he is a politician who is not up to the situation and is not focused on future”.
Serbian Minister of Defence, Aleksandar Vulin in a statement to Politika, termed Izetbegovic’s statement “as dangerous”.
President of the Republic of Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik told TV Pink that Kosovo will not be recognized by BiH – regardless of what Bakir Izetbegovic says and tries to do – because whether or not Kosovo and Metohija is recognized (as independent), depends on the RS”.
Dodik added that Izetbegovic’s statement “can only be one coming from a politician whose career is at its sunset.”
“I could say that whether or not Kosovo will be an independent state depends more on me, than on Bakir Izetbegovic. Bakir Izetbegovic is a failed politician who is now constantly revisiting one and the same topic, like his father (Alija Izetbegovic) did, making threats of war in this region – without any real foothold for such a thing,” Dodik stated.
