Sarajevo: Serbia failing to meet succession commitments

Bosnia-Hercegovina was supposed to receive the embassy that it is due by the end of the year. However, Serbia failed to meet its commitments, according to the Bosnian Foreign Ministry. Sarajevo: Serbia failing to meet succession commitments The property that Bosnia-Hercegovina received as part of the agreement, is now being used illegally by only one successor state, said Bosnian assistant Finance and Treasury Minister Dzemal Fako. “Serbia and Montenegro have assumed the exclusive rights to use the property unilaterally, regardless of the fact that other state successors have laid claim to it,” said Fako. Bosnian presidency member Nebojsa Radmanovic said that the problem was down to a delay in implementing the agreement. “The agreement on states from the former Yugoslavia which, I must say, is going much better than agreements in other areas in the region, has been delayed. If we were to grade them all in order of importance, that would perhaps be fortieth on the scale. A much bigger problem concerns the property of Bosnian people in Croatia which hardly anyone’s dealing with, which, even after ten consultations with Croatian leaders hasn’t moved an inch,” said Radmanovic. Former Bosnian Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic said that Serbia was not deliberately attempting to harm Bosnia. “The agreement’s first round, when it took place, was very quickly carried out. I took part in it – and we now have an embassy in London, a wonderful building, in a nice setting – and there weren’t any problems. I don’t think it’s anything to do with relations with Bosnia-Hercegovina, but probably a problem in relations between the former Yugoslav republics,” added the former minister. “Our loss is in terms of the fact we weren’t meant to pay rent for ambassadors or embassies in those countries,” Ivanic explained. Other signatory countries are experiencing similar problems, said Fako, not just in diplomatic-consular terms, but also in the area of financing and debts. Money placed in banks has not been distributed, and the committee responsible has not convened for over two years. “Certain successor states, including Bosnia, are crying out for financial help, and we know that deposits of the former Yugoslavia, which are the subject of succession, are just sitting in banks,” said the assistant minister.

Sarajevo: Serbia failing to meet succession commitments

The property that Bosnia-Hercegovina received as part of the agreement, is now being used illegally by only one successor state, said Bosnian assistant Finance and Treasury Minister Džemal Fako.

“Serbia and Montenegro have assumed the exclusive rights to use the property unilaterally, regardless of the fact that other state successors have laid claim to it,” said Fako.

Bosnian presidency member Nebojša Radmanović said that the problem was down to a delay in implementing the agreement.

“The agreement on states from the former Yugoslavia which, I must say, is going much better than agreements in other areas in the region, has been delayed. If we were to grade them all in order of importance, that would perhaps be fortieth on the scale. A much bigger problem concerns the property of Bosnian people in Croatia which hardly anyone’s dealing with, which, even after ten consultations with Croatian leaders hasn’t moved an inch,” said Radmanović.

Former Bosnian Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanić said that Serbia was not deliberately attempting to harm Bosnia.

“The agreement’s first round, when it took place, was very quickly carried out. I took part in it – and we now have an embassy in London, a wonderful building, in a nice setting – and there weren’t any problems. I don’t think it’s anything to do with relations with Bosnia-Hercegovina, but probably a problem in relations between the former Yugoslav republics,” added the former minister.

“Our loss is in terms of the fact we weren’t meant to pay rent for ambassadors or embassies in those countries,” Ivanić explained.

Other signatory countries are experiencing similar problems, said Fako, not just in diplomatic-consular terms, but also in the area of financing and debts.

Money placed in banks has not been distributed, and the committee responsible has not convened for over two years.

“Certain successor states, including Bosnia, are crying out for financial help, and we know that deposits of the former Yugoslavia, which are the subject of succession, are just sitting in banks,” said the assistant minister.