NATO calls on Bosnia-Herzegovina to avoid “divisive rhetoric” in the country and wants the country to take “concrete steps” towards internal reconciliation. He also reinforced the importance of stability in the Balkans.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged Bosnia-Herzegovina’s political leaders on Monday to avoid “divisive rhetoric” in the country, after warning that separatist actions are a “breeding ground” for outside interference.
In a meeting held this Monday at the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Western defense bloc) headquarters in Brussels, with the Bosnian member of the Bosnian tripartite presidency, Denis Becirovic, Stoltenberg urged the country’s leaders balkan to refrain from exacerbating “divisive rhetoric” and was worried about “separatist actions that could become a breeding ground for external evil activities”.
Instead, he urged the country to take “concrete steps” toward internal reconciliation, promoting reforms that benefit all of Bosnia and preserve shared institutions, the Atlantic Alliance said in a statement.
Stoltenberg stressed that NATO fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and indicated that stability in the region of Balkans is of “strategic importance” for the military organization.
This is how the Atlantic Alliance expressed its concern about the separatist tendencies of the Republika Srpska, one of the two entities that make up Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose president, Milorad Dodik, defends secession and integration into Serbia.
Last week a parade was held in Sarajevo with 2,000 Bosnian Serb paramilitaries and police to celebrate a Republika Srpska holiday, despite the fact that this was prohibited by the Bosnian authorities.
The event was held in the presence of Dodik and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic with the participation of a crowd waving flags of the Serbian and Bosnian Serbian republics.
Source: Observadora
