Kosovo’s Recognition May Be Considered By Bosnia And Herzegovina
Ibrahim Gashi, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs recently paid an informal visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. During his visit, he received assurance from Kosovo’s document will soon be recognized by Bosnia. Kosovo can only trade with Bosnia if the latter recognizes its documents.
“They are aware that this issue at this time is more costly to Bosnia than to Kosovo. All the officials with whom I spoke in Sarajevo, promised that they will take on reinitiating the question of recognizing Kosovo’s documents in the Presidency, Government and Parliament. If they have recognized the stamps, this means that our products can go up to the border, but then the trucks must be driven by Bosnian drivers. The product can enter but not the person. We hope that we will receive a positive response. If it is positive, then we can call my visit successful.”
Source: Republic of Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Recognition of Kosovo is seemingly a tricky path because Bosnia is multifaceted. It is a delicate matter that if not handled with care can propel the nation back into war. There is a friction of interest between the Croats, Bosniaks and the Serbs which often come in the way of such proclamations. Reacting to the possibility of Bosnia recognizing Kosovo, Abu Ahmed replied,
“Bosnia has two entities, of which one is dominated by Serbs. Also, Serbs can stop any attempt of recognizing Kosovo. Also, even Bosniaks are aware that recognizing Kosovo might mean that Republika Srpska will also seek independence, which would almost certainly trigger a war in Bosnia again.”
Source: Quora
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Igor Crnadak thinks otherwise of the optimism expressed by Ibrahim Gashi. According to Crnadak, the invitation of the prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj for Kosovo’s independence recognition by Sarajevo will likely have no effect.
“There is no recognition of Kosovo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, not because of the attitude of Bosniaks and Croats, but because of the position of the representatives of the S, and those from the parties that form the government at the level of BiH and those from the opposition at the level of BiH, which are in power in the RS. They have a unique stand on this issue and there is no chance that this situation will change.”
Source: European Western Balkans
Mary Dejevsky, a respected expert and commentator on Russia has raised the idea that Russia may consider the recognition of Kosovo’s independence as part of a larger agreement going on between Moscow and Washington.
Russia has continually shown interest in the politics of the Western Balkans including pushing for Bosnia and Herzegovina to remain neutral rather than join NATO alliance.
It is not a surprise that Russian envoy has continued to preach the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Russian ambassador to the Balkans, Pyotr Ivantsov, in a recent interview, openly condemned the NATO alliance in the Western Balkans.