“Joint foreign policy with Republic of Srpska – why not?” (B92)
Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic commented in Sarajevo on joint foreign policy of Pristina and Tirana and his earlier statement that Serbia could do the same with Republic of Srpska by saying “we could, why not,” B92 reports.
Dacic made these remarks at the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit. Asked to comment on the absence of Kosovo and Albanian delegations from the summit, Dacic said that in 2014 a decision was made, in line with the Brussels agreement, to enable Pristina participation in line with the agreed conditions.
“It is very interesting that Kosovo participated in the first next summit in Albania under the same conditions they cited today as a reason of non-attendance. The conditions are as such only the name of the capital is in front of us, therefore no flags and no names of the states,” Dacic said.
He noted Kosovo is marked in line with the agreement, respectively with an asterix and a footnote. According to Dacic, most of the countries expressed regret that Kosovo delegation did not take part in the summit, while Bosnia and Herzegovina told him they acted in the same manner as Albania did when invited Kosovo in 2015. “Kosovo had no objections in Albania, but had it in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Dacic underlined.
Commenting on Pristina-Tirana joint foreign policy agreement, Dacic said it is about creating “Great Albania,” and asked what would happen if Serbia would sign such an agreement with Republic of Srpska.
“Would it be a violation of the territorial integrity and interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina? Probably, everybody would condemn it, and in case of Albanians they say – leave it,” Dacic said.
“We should turn to each other, not to seek help from others. It would be the same as if a person who has an issue with a neighbor goes to someone else to seek help. And that that one leaves, and you are the one who should live next to the neighbor. That is why we need to resolve the issues with ourselves and to see what our interests are,” Dacic told journalists.