LOCAL PRESS

 

Dacic: Everyone will support Belgrade-Pristina agreement, even with agreed change of border (VIP)

If Belgrade and Pristina reach a compromise solution, everyone else will support that agreement even if it includes an agreed change of borders, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday.

“Belgrade and Pristina should work out an agreement; some might not like something but everyone will support an agreement,” Dacic told a conference on security challenges in the Western Balkans.

“Great Britain and Germany keep telling the story of not changing borders but if an agreement is reached and if that is the only possible solution, I have no dilemma that it will be accepted – and let me add that the European Union which is moderating the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue accepts it” he said. The issue of delimitation between Serbs and Albanians and changes to the border has been presented wrongly from the start because it was limited to a decision of whether someone wants a change of border or not, he said.

“Perhaps this is about whether we want an agreement and if we do we have to reach a viable, quick solution, good for all,” Dacic said.

Dacic said that he is convinced that the international community will take into account Serbia’s stand against the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force into a military.

"We especially appreciate the guarantees which NATO has given us that the so-called KSF will not have access to northern Kosovo Without KFOR approval” Dacic said at the conference.

 

Serbian official has "public and open" question for EU (B92)

Director of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric held an unscheduled press conference in Belgrade this Thursday. Djuric reacted to the statements being made by Kosovo officials, above all Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.

"This is the same statement for the 28th time, in addition, followed by threats of war. At that moment when President Aleksandar Vucic dared to ask for a compromise, at that moment, we received a lot of criticism and pressure, including one country that wishes it recognizes the independence of Kosovo and Metohija," Djuric said.

The Serbian official then said that he had "a public and open" question for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and her spokesperson, Maja Kocijancic.

"I ask them whether they will react in any way to the threats and challenge to peace and stability in the region, or if they will again be silent. And if they will not react to this, let them tell us where and when and with whom they have negotiated to erase the border - where even those countries that recognize Kosmet (Kosovo and Metohija) say that a border exists," he said.

"Would they also be silent if Belgrade said the border between Belgrade and Banja Luka was being erased? I think we all know the answer to this question" Djuric said.

 

Scott: U.S. supports Vucic and Thaci, relies on Mogherini's wisdom (Beta)

The U.S. ambassador to Serbia, Kyle Scott, stated in Belgrade on Sept. 19 that the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo, Aleksandar Vucic and Hashim Thaci, had America's support in seeking a peaceful solution, and that the U.S. relied on the wisdom of EU High Representative Federica Mogherini.

Speaking at the conference on security challenges in the Western Balkans, Scott said that there were "three critical issues" in the region - the Belgrade- Pristina dialogue, the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece and sustaining Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) as a country. The good news is that these problems are not unsolvable, we see the courage of the leaders of Macedonia and Greece. Progress in B&H is not as fast. In Belgrade, we see new vibrations regarding the agreement on the normalization of relations. We hope to find an acceptable and lasting solution as soon as possible, Scott said. The ambassador added that solving problems in the Balkans depended on the will of political leaders to work together, listen to each other, compromise and accept cooperation. In his words, the role of Serbia is important in the process of preserving peace in the region, and the U.S. will do everything to help the region and Serbia in finding a solution to disputes.

 

Serbia’s gov. promises many investments to Kosovo Serbs (Beta)

Serbia’s Government plans to meet with Kosovo Serbs' representatives to present its investment plan for the areas where they make a majority, the Office for Kosovo said on Wednesday, the Beta news agency reported. The agenda for the joint session, to be held in a month, includes the harmonization of subsidy measures for potential investors in those parts of Kosovo.

A review of drafted infrastructure and economic projects should be completed before the session, the statement said. Office chief Marko Djuric said that a “great wave of investments” is coming to municipalities with Serb majorities and representatives of Kosovo Serbs promised that “the implementation of investments from central Serbia will be the absolute priority for Serb local authorities and institutions in the province”.

 

Dacic meets with high official of Foreign Office (Beta)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic met on Sept. 19 with a high official of the British Foreign Office, Alan Duncan, and discussed the promotion of bilateral relations, the continued

European integration of Serbia, relations in the region and the prospects of the Western Balkans.

During the meeting, they stressed the need for finding a lasting solution for Kosovo, which would take into account the interests of both nations and improve the stability of the entire region, the Serbian Foreign Ministry has stated. The minister of state for Europe at the Foreign Office reiterated London's support to Serbia's European integration and its readiness to develop bilateral cooperation, the statement reads.

 

Money and weapons main terrorism threat for Serbia (N1 Belgrade)

The potential movement of money and weapons remains the main terrorism threat facing Serbia but the government has taken steps to upgrade its capabilities in fighting terrorism, the US State Department said in its Country Reports on Terrorism 2017.

The report recalled that there were no terrorist attacks in the country and that the level of recruitment for ISIS was low. It added that the government adopted a national counter-terrorism strategy and continued its cooperation with other countries and organizations in law enforcement and cyber-security.

“Serbia continued to benefit from U.S. government training to build counterterrorism capacity,” the report said and recalled that the country formed an inter-agency counterterrorism task force similar to the US Joint Terrorism Task Force and that Serbian military and security services personnel attended counter-terrorism and border control training courses with their counterparts from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

The authors of the report feel that Serbia’s law enforcement capacities need improvement, but that progress is steady, adding that the Counter Terrorism and Extremism Service is proactive in its efforts to detect, deter and prevent terrorism while the government has set up inter-agency working groups to handle security at both strategic and operational levels.

The report said that Serbia’s has limited regional and international cooperation on counterterrorism issues but that it does work with Interpol and Europol. “Serbia has well-developed bilateral border security cooperation programs with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, and a Tri-Border partnership with Bosnia and Croatia. Serbian agencies also routinely engage with Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro”, the report said.

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

Reactions to Govedarica’s statement he is going to look up to Karadzic (Oslobodjenje)

SDP candidate for Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Denis Becirovic commented a statement of SDS leader Vukota Govedarica that he plans to be Republika Srpska (RS) President like Radovan Karadzic was, and he stated on Wednesday that it means Govedarica wants to be “disgraced, defeated war criminal hiding in a mouse hole”. “That would not be good neither for him nor the people he presents. It would be better if he looked up to great humanists, scientists, athletes, artists… instead of poisoning young people in B&H with such messages,” said Becirovic and added that if Govedarica truly wants to be a brutal war criminal, he should be aware that nobody in the country is ever going to destroy and kill innocent citizens and not be punished for it. “We will never allow genocide against Bosniaks again, and violence against any citizen or people. Govedarica should know that after October 7, Chetnik voivodes will not be awarded with positions,” he said and pointed out that fascism will no longer be tolerated, but prosecuted and punished just like Govedarica’s role model.

 

DF leader Zeljko Komsic stated he believed Govedarica wants to put SNSD leader Milorad Dodik in prison, but it turns out Govedarica wants to go to prison himself if Karadzic is his role model. Komsic went on to say that Govedarica should be aware that, unlike Karadzic, he does not have support of Yugoslav People’s Army or Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, not even support of Milosevic’s current spokesman, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

 

NP MP and candidate for the RS President Sadik Ahmetovic sent an open letter to Govedarica and noted he was, putting it mildly, surprised by his statement. “Mister Govedarica, it is sad to hear one relatively young person choose convicted war criminal for their role model, said Ahmetovic and asked Govedarica how he can have an individual found guilty of genocide as a role model.

 

Dodik: Lavrov visit major for Republika Srpska (Srna)

President of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik says the upcoming visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Banja Luka is of great significance for RS because the Russian diplomat is a great friend of the Serbs and an expert about developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H).

"We will inform Lavrov about the state of affairs in RS and discuss the ways Russia can invest in certain projects in RS and be even more present here. That’s what we want, and if the British don’t like it, that’s their problem” said Dodik. He pointed out it would be a great honor for RS to host the Russian diplomacy chief in Banja Luka on September 21.

"We are very grateful for his decision to come to RS as we know how much a visit by any diplomat to Banja Luka is obstructed in Sarajevo. Unfortunately, even the Serbs like B&H Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak consider it their biggest success when certain diplomats don’t visit institutions of RS, so he tries to ‘mask’ it by saying that he assemblies’ ministers in Banja Luka, so he invited Pacolli, Chief of diplomacy of self-declared Kosovo, and considers that success” emphasized the RS president.

 

He said Lavrov had been aware of the state of affairs in B&H ever since he was the Russian ambassador to the UN Security Council and had known all the details of the Dayton Peace Agreement all along, while holding the position of the foreign minister too.

"In that respect, Russia acts in a very principled manner. With all its problems and challenges the West is trying to impose on it, the Russian Federation demonstrates its vitality and we appreciate its objective and completely balanced approach to the situation in B&H. For all these years Russia has stood by its stance that the Dayton Peace Agreement must be observed and that any kind of change must be agreed within B&H,” said Dodik.

 

Dodik asserts that the West is well aware of that but that it has manipulated compromises and consensuses made in B&H for all these years.

"The West has exerted unbearable pressure and portrayed it as compromise - which is not true because there can be no compromise based on pressure and manipulation they carried out here. Those decisions that were made are not decisions of the explicit will of the people, rather decisions made under duress. I don’t intend to criticize any of my political ancestors, because it was an unbearable time and I can understand that to some extent. The only thing I regret is that we didn’t walk out on some of those meetings and say we didn’t want any part of it,” president of RS told Srna. Dodik recalled that he had refused to take part in such meetings on several occasions because he did not want to make decisions needed by the West.

 

Lavrov’s visit to RS will represent expression of support to DPA (EuroBlic)

Expert on international relations Zeljko Budimir said that the upcoming visit of Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov to Republika Srpska (RS) represents a sign that Russia’s support to the RS continues “as well as that Mr. Lavrov supports such situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), in which the RS plays more and more independent role”. Budimir reminded that Russia has been supporting the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) in the most serious and consistent way and added that the Embassy of Russia to B&H acts in a very calm and sensible way, even in situations when Russian citizens were banned from entering B&H. Budimir concluded by saying that nobody can claim that Russia is a factor of instability. Professor of international relations Milos Solaja stated that Lavrov can only present the official stance of Russia during his visit to Banja Luka, i.e. he can express the support to the DPA. Speaking about Lavrov’s visit to the RS from Russia’s standpoint, Solaja said that every state has a legitimate right to spread their interests in places where they find fit in line with international laws.

 

UK Ambassador Field: We want strong, stable and prosperous RS (Nezavisne)

Newly-appointed UK Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Matthew Field, commenting on priorities during his term, said that his first priority would be “to help this country and its citizens achieve success, which means peaceful and prosperous B&H, with stronger rule of law, better economic situation for everyone and better public services, and B&H which has made significant progress on the path towards membership in the EU”. He underlined that he would like to see the UK and B&H cooperating more in all of those fields, adding that he is glad Prime Minister Theresa May has announced doubling of UK support to B&H.

“I also hope that after elections, we will witness a speedy formation of governments, which would then start working on important tasks aimed at improving the life of citizens. United Kingdom is a proven partner of this country and will continue to be in years to come”, said Field.

 

Commenting on - speculations about UK ambassadors working on destabilization of Republika Srpska (RS) through various covert activities, Field briefly said that such stories are simply not true. He explained that the UK has positive and fruitful relations with the RS, and that the UK and the Government of the RS have jointly implemented projects worth a total of 6 million euros over the past two years - including “new strategies, in the fields of energy and transportation, online registration of companies, scholarships, support to civilian victims of war, police training and much more”. “We want to see strong, stable and prosperous RS, which is a part of the strong, stable and prosperous B&H. We are in a position to offer comprehensive support through projects to make that happen” Field said.

 

B&H CEC informs Prosecutor’s Office of B&H about reported irregularities related to registration of voters (Hayat)

Representatives of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) stated at the press conference in Sarajevo on Wednesday that the CEC has sent the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H the information on possible abuses during registration of voters for the upcoming general elections in October. They stressed that identity theft mainly happens regarding the voting outside B&H, adding that they suspect that the Criminal Code of B&H and the election rules were violated. The information refers to possible committing of criminal offenses related to the process of registration of voters who vote via mail. B&H CEC Spokesperson Maksida Piric confirmed that the information includes some 150 persons.

 

fYROM

 

German Defence Minister: Seize this unique opportunity (MIA)

We want to build Europe together with you. I am convinced that the referendum will be successful and at the end you will move on the right path, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday at the joint press conference with her Macedonian colleague Radmila Sekerinska.

“The referendum is approaching. I know that it is related with the name of your country, your identity and history, however I see great chance in this referendum. I believe that the citizens of your country will actively participate. From our experience related to German unification I can say that such opportunities are unique and should be seized. And when I speak about seizing the opportunity, I want to say that I am speaking about united Europe, that we want to continue to build Europe together with you,” Von der Leyen said.

 

Sekerinska answering journalist question if the referendum fails and whether Macedonia will stay in front of NATO’s door, she expressed confidence that the referendum will be successful and that the country is already preparing for accession talks with NATO.

“From the moment we received NATO invitation we set up teams for preparation of accession talks. NATO teams have already visited the country and meetings with NATO officials in Brussels are to be held at the end of this month. The talks are being led as planned. We do not expect any issues that will slow down the process. We should prove politically that we fully support this process and we will do that on September 30. I think that the successful referendum will definitely speed up all of our allies to help make the accession dialogue fast, efficient and quality,” Sekerinska said.

 

In regard to bilateral cooperation, Von der Leyen said that she wants to jointly move on the road to NATO membership.

“We will continue the bilateral cooperation with regard to joint exercises that can be carried out in cooperation between the two countries. We offer an opportunity to deepen the cooperation in the area of training for further qualification, but of course also on a funding plan. When we talk about NATO, I can say that we share very similar views and I have the feeling that you are part of NATO. I am convinced that the referendum will be successful, that everything will be as it should and that in the end you will move on the right track,” Von der Leyen underlined.

 

Zbogar: We want to see your country as full-fledged EU member (MIA)

Citizens will decide very soon on the path of their future and relations with the European Union. There are a lot of emotions involved in this and we understand that the decision is not easy, but we are convinced that the citizens will make the right decision that we will respect," said EU Ambassador Samuel Zbogar at the 15. meeting of the EU-Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee in Skopje on Wednesday.

Ambassador Zbogar said good neighborly relations are among EU's principles, saluting the agreements that Macedonia has signed with Bulgaria and Greece.

"These agreements and your commitment to reforms have resulted in tangible progress on the European path, enabling the Council to open the path for accession negotiations in June 2019," said Zbogar. He noted that the Union is a strong supporter of the Government's reform efforts, especially in the field of rule of law.

"Programme Erasmus + has supported over 5,000 young people to learn and work across Europe, projects for infrastructure improvement have made travel for citizens and businessmen easier, we are working in the environment field through filtering stations and landfill management. We directly support farmers in land consolidation and purchase of equipment, and we especially focus on young farmers and women-farmers. We are providing grants for enhancement of new businesses, we are helping the promotion of your cultural heritage and tourism," explained Zbogar.

The EU Ambassador, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrej Zernovski, MPs and MEPs exchanged opinions on relations between the Union and Macedonia.

"The Government's activities over the past year have taken two lanes - implementation of deep and sustainable internal reforms related to the rule of law and building independent institutions, but also revival of Macedonia's position in international relations, primarily through enhancement of good neighborly relations," said Deputy FM Zernovski.

He highlighted the fact that the EU integration project unites ethnicities and makes the country even stronger.

Meeting discussions focused on the Government's Plan 3-6-9 and the new Plan 18, issues related to the rule of law and more specifically on reforms in the electoral legislation, judiciary, intelligence, fight against corruption and organized crime, activities of the Special Prosecutor's Office, state of affairs in the media field, good neighborly relations and regional cooperation.

 

Speaker Xhaferi meets members of EU-Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee (MIA)

Speaker Talat Xhaferi wished successful work Wednesday to members of the EU-Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which is holding its 15th meeting. Xhaferi commended the JPC role in Macedonia’s cooperation with the European Parliament, which has been a staunch supporter of the country’s bid to join EU and NATO.

‘Having regular dialogues with Macedonia’s strategic partners is rather significant, as it contributes substantially to the evaluation of the country’s reform progress and democratic development,’ Xhaferi said.

JPS members conveyed the impressions of their meetings thus far with political stakeholders and commended the revival of Europe’s spirit in Macedonia, the Parliament said in a press release.

Xhaferi briefed them on all stages for implementing the Prespa Agreement and voiced belief that the upcoming referendum would be successful.

‘Citizens are aware that there is no other alternative for Macedonia but the EU, NATO membership’ Xhaferi said.

 

Albania

 

Meta meeting with Deputy Assistant Secretary of American State (ADN)

President Ilir Meta met on Wednesday with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of American State, Elizabeth Millard. The main focus of the talks was the current situation in Albania, the referendum in Macedonia and Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. Both Meta and Millard emphasized the importance of reform progress to strengthen the rule of law Meta stated that Albania is decided to fulfill the obligations deriving from Albania-US Strategic Partnership document.

One of the topics of discussions was Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, as well as the situation in the Western Balkans.

"Kosovo-Serbia agreement guarantees European perspective, consolidates inter-ethnic coexistence and peace in the region," stated Meta.

They also stressed the importance of the referendum in Macedonia to be realized successfully.

 

Basha meeting with US Official, Elisabeth Millard (ADN)

The Chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), Lulzim Basha, received on Wednesday in a meeting the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Elisabeth Millard. During the meeting, Basha talked about the deterioration of all the standards of democracy and the capture of the state by organized crime in Albania.

"Crime policy links have become the main concern in the country because today criminals and dangerous gangs control governance and benefit most of the money and public assets. In a country where crime dictates decision-making, we cannot talk about independent institutions and democratic standards," said Basha.

He informed the US Official with the opposition's initiative for vetting in politics, cleaning the Parliament, the Government and other state institutions by politicians that are connected to crime.

 

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

 

Lavrov visit adds to tensions in Bosnia’s elections (BIRN)

The visit by Russia’s top diplomat may have a major impact on Bosnia’s political scene, coming amidst an especially heated pre-election campaign. The upcoming visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) may set some things right – or make them even worse – coming only weeks ahead of polling day in the general elections.

While Russia will use the visit on September 2o and 21 to advance its already significant influence in Bosnia and the region, on the other side, all the local political parties and politicians will try to utilize it as well for their election campaigns.

One way or the other, therefore, Lavrov’s visit is likely to have an impact.

It comes in the context of Russia’s growing influence across the Balkans, which has expanded over the last decade, especially since Vladimir Putin became President in 2012.

This has been enabled by the steady decline of the EU and American presence in the region, and has been built mostly on the close links between Russians and Serbs in recent history

 

Spoiler, opportunist, or something else:

Russian frustration with American policy in the Balkans has mounted since the US supported Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, and especially after the international debate about Kosovo was moved from the UN Security Council to the EU-led dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in 2011, circumventing Russian participation.

 

In Bosnia, Russia started building its presence in February 2007, when the Russian state oil company, Zarubezhneft, purchased a majority stake in the Brod oil refinery, the Modrica motor oil plant and fuel retailer Petrol – all in Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska – for 121.1 million euros.

 

Moscow has repeatedly objected to Western interventions in Bosnia, and has warned that it could seriously destabilize the divided country if it wanted to do so.

In apparent retaliation to the EU and US for taking the lead in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Russia supported the Bosnian Serb leader, Milorad Dodik, when he threatened to hold a referendum on the authority of Bosnia’s state judiciary in 2011 – which he only eventually cancelled under strong international pressure.

In November 2014, Russia’s representative in the UN Security Council abstained from voting for the regular annual extension of the mandate of the EU-led peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, “Althea,” which was seen as another sign that Russia intended to play a stronger, more negative, role in the country.

In subsequent years, Russia has played a “hot and cold” game with the West on Bosnia, sometimes softening and sometimes hardening its positions.

The changes made to these often inconsistent positions have usually reflected the state of play in the ongoing global chess match between Russia and the West – suggesting that Russia’s real strategic focus remained on the global scene rather than on Bosnia itself.

In 2016, Russia supported another of Dodik’s controversial referendum initiatives, on the subject of the Serb entity’s national day. Notably, the RS followed through on this vote, despite strong opposition from the West and even from Serbia.

That development showed that through Dodik, who has met Putin at least eight times in recent years, Russia has built up a strong position in Bosnia, which has overshadowed or even completely nullified the influence that the West was trying to establish over the RS through Serbia and its president, Aleksandar Vucic.

While many Western and local officials have complained about a Russian “spoiler” effect in both Bosnia and Serbia, Moscow has, however, been careful to discourage Dodik from pushing for the full independence of RS – which many experts believe would lead to a new armed conflict.

 

In December 2016 and again in June 2018, Russia signed up to communiqués of the Peace Implementation Council, PIC - the international body overseeing Bosnia’s Office of the High Representative, OHR - which have spelled out that Bosnia’s two entities “have no right to secede from B&H and only exist legally by virtue of the B&H Constitution”.

Several Bosnian Serb officials have said that Russian officials delivered the same message to Dodik directly as well.

 

Battle over who invited Lavrov first:

While the Kremlin’s messages have persuaded Dodik to tone down his hardline rhetoric and initiatives in the past, the big question is whether Lavrov will deliver a similar message during his upcoming visit. Even if he does, another question is whether that would do the trick, amid an increasingly complicated political scene, as well as a heated election campaign.

Throughout his stay, Lavrov’s every word and gesture will be dissected, scrutinized and then used – and misused – in the election campaign.

This politicization of the visit begun even before it started, as Bosnian politicians and media pundits exchanged theories and rumours about why Russia’s top diplomat had postponed his arrival date.

Lavrov had been due to visit on September 15 and 16, but, only one day before his arrival, the date was moved to September 21 and 22, for “technical” reasons.

 

Some media said this delay was as a protest, after Bosnia’s authorities in August denied entry to Russian author Zakhar Prilepin on security grounds; Prilepin is seen as close to the Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

But others suspected that Lavrov delayed his visit to avoid attending the ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the new Russian religious and cultural centre in Banja Luka – to prevent Dodik from using it in his election campaign. [The outgoing RS President is standing for the Serb seat in the state presidency.]

A somewhat more modest ceremony took place on Monday, with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Ambassador to Bosnia, Petar Ivancov, attending instead of Lavrov.

According to a Bosnian official, Lavrov’s plans for the visit have remained almost the same as original ones, apart from attending the ceremony at the new cultural centre.

The visit starts on Friday in Sarajevo with an informal meeting with Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak, who comes from the ranks of an RS opposition party, the Party of Democratic Progress, PDP.

On Saturday, after meeting Bosnia’s tripartite state presidency, he travels to Republika Srpska.

 

The impact of Lavrov’s visit will depend partly on the outcome to his meeting with the three-man state presidency, made up of Bosniak leader Bakir Izetbegovic – who has criticized Russia’s role in Bosnia – the Serbian member, Mladen Ivanic, who also comes from the RS opposition PDP party, and the Croatian leader, Dragan Covic, an ally of Dodik’s.

 

The latest high-level Russian visit to Bosnia, by Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Russian parliament’s upper house in April, stirred tensions in Sarajevo.

While her visit was said to be a part of Russian efforts to improve relations with other Bosnian leaders, apart from Dodik, it achieved the opposite result.

In her speech to the state parliament, Matviyenko referred to the 1992-5 war in Bosnia as a civil war, which triggered predictably angry responses from Bosniak and Bosnian officials and media.

While Matviyenko could have avoided tensions by picking her words more carefully, Bosniak and Bosnian officials could have also made better use of the visit to promote bilateral business and trade relations instead of their own pre-election interests.

Either way, the row over her terminology showed how even one word can have a major impact on Bosnia’s frantic political scene.

 

Besides what emerges from his meetings in Sarajevo, the greatest effect of Lavrov’s visit will likely come about through his talks with Dodik on one side, and with Dodik’s main opponents, a bloc of Bosnian Serb opposition parties that are struggling to use the election to weaken or topple him.

Whether Lavrov can maintain a delicate balance between supporting the RS authorities while blocking Dodik's potentially more dangerous moves, remains to be seen.

It will not be easy, however, and the job will not be made any easier by the deeply divided political scene, especially in Republika Srpska.

 

The election campaign there has been marked by brutal mud-slinging, incidents and attacks on journalists as well as by the unsolved murder of an 21-year-old in Banja Luka.

This is why even the most basic question – who invited Lavrov to Bosnia – has become an issue in the election.

 

After Lavrov’s visit was officially confirmed few weeks ago, both Dodik and Crnadak insisted that they had invited him – and fought in public over whose invitation came first, and to whose invitation Lavrov had responded. This question may seem irrelevant to the average onlooker, but is seen by some RS politicians as a possible make-or-break issue in the campaign.

This is why, some Bosnian Serb officials say, journalists from the RS’s main radio and TV station, RTRS – which is under Dodik’s control – and who will be covering Lavrov’s first press conference in Sarajevo – have been ordered to put out this question first.