Bosnian leader warns of negative Schengen appraisal

Chairman of the Bosnian Presidency Nebojsa Radmanovic believes Sarajevo could receive a negative report on its efforts to reach the Schengen white list. The European Commission will discuss the position of the Western Balkans states regarding the matter of the visa regime on Thursday. Bosnian leader warns of negative Schengen appraisal “The report could contain negative assessments for Bosnia-Herzegovina, because we have not met the conditions on the Road Map,’” Radmanovic told daily Glas Srpske. “I believe that by the end of the year, we can fulfill the remaining conditions. It would be unreasonable for Bosnia to be the only country in the region with a visa regime,” Radmanovic said. Concerning a recent U.S. State Department report, which said that “officials of the Republic of Srpska (RS) are obstructing the work of the Bosnian institutions, thus hampering the war on terrorism,” Radmanovic questioned the arguments of the report,” which has elements of the political, as no attention was paid to actually locating possible terrorism in Bosnia and Europe.” “There is no terrorism in the RS. Nor is it true that Serb officials are obstructing the work of the Bosnian institutions,” he said. He said that the forthcoming visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden would be very important for Bosnia-Hercegovina, and he hopes that Biden wants to familiarize himself with the situation in the country personally. “I am sure that during this visit, domestic politicians will offer various views on the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Radmanovic said. Commenting on the calls to new International High Representative Valentin Inzko to replace RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik following his call for Serb soldiers in the Bosnian armed forces not to participate in NATO exercises in Georgia, Radmanovic said that “the most striking thing is that the call to sanction and replace the RS prime minister came from Bosnian presidency member Zeljko Komsic, who holds some of the most responsible functions in Bosnia-Hercegovina.” “It is not the first time that Komsic has attacked people in the RS, and it is becoming symptomatic of the entire political situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is taking Bosnia back to the Middle Ages, with Komsic calling on the ‘foreign ruler’ to punish someone he does not agree with. Such statements create major, unnecessary problems,” the chairman of the Bosnian presidency reflected.

Bosnian leader warns of negative Schengen appraisal

“The report could contain negative assessments for Bosnia-Herzegovina, because we have not met the conditions on the Road Map,’” Radmanović told daily Glas Srpske.

“I believe that by the end of the year, we can fulfill the remaining conditions. It would be unreasonable for Bosnia to be the only country in the region with a visa regime,” Radmanović said.

Concerning a recent U.S. State Department report, which said that “officials of the Republic of Srpska (RS) are obstructing the work of the Bosnian institutions, thus hampering the war on terrorism,” Radmanović questioned the arguments of the report,” which has elements of the political, as no attention was paid to actually locating possible terrorism in Bosnia and Europe.”

“There is no terrorism in the RS. Nor is it true that Serb officials are obstructing the work of the Bosnian institutions,” he said.

He said that the forthcoming visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden would be very important for Bosnia-Hercegovina, and he hopes that Biden wants to familiarize himself with the situation in the country personally.

“I am sure that during this visit, domestic politicians will offer various views on the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Radmanović said.

Commenting on the calls to new International High Representative Valentin Inzko to replace RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik following his call for Serb soldiers in the Bosnian armed forces not to participate in NATO exercises in Georgia, Radmanović said that “the most striking thing is that the call to sanction and replace the RS prime minister came from Bosnian presidency member Željko Komšić, who holds some of the most responsible functions in Bosnia-Hercegovina.”

“It is not the first time that Komšić has attacked people in the RS, and it is becoming symptomatic of the entire political situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is taking Bosnia back to the Middle Ages, with Komšić calling on the ‘foreign ruler’ to punish someone he does not agree with. Such statements create major, unnecessary problems,” the chairman of the Bosnian presidency reflected.