Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic has announced that two members of the Serbian Embassy’s diplomatic staff in Sarajevo have been declared persona non grata while Sarajevo plans to withdraw support for a regional cooperation declaration.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Konakovic said he declared Serbian Embassy military attaché Milan Dulanovic and adviser to a representative of Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA) Darko Maksimovic persona non grata.
"These two individuals have 48 hours to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Konakovic, adding that their diplomatic identification cards would be revoked.
He urged members of the diplomatic corps in Bosnia and Herzegovina to stop communicating with Dulanovic and Maksimovic.
Konakovic cited the response of Serbian officials to the late convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic following his burial in Belgrade, describing recent developments as crossing “all red lines,” for the decision.
Konakovic said Bosnia and Herzegovina would not allow the glorification of individuals convicted of genocide and other international crimes to be portrayed merely as the views of individuals.
“Nothing else is more important. No economic, commercial, social or administrative process is more important than what Serbia is currently doing in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he noted.
Konakovic also announced that Sarajevo had withdrawn its consent to the joint declaration on good-neighbourly relations and regional cooperation scheduled to be signed October 1 in Montenegro.
He stressed that Bosnia and Herzegovina would not sign the document until the situation in Serbia changes.
“We will not sign such declarations, empty pieces of paper, while we are seeing the Serbia we have witnessed in recent days — the Serbia of the 1990s, which truly warns us that things are not normal,” he underscored.
Konakovic reaffirmed that Montenegro had been informed of the decision, stressing that Bosnia and Herzegovina had no objection to the document but rather to Serbia’s current actions and approach.
He also announced a review of the staffing structure of the Serbian Embassy in Sarajevo, including the number of diplomatic personnel required for operations.
The foreign ministry will also consider changes to the consular jurisdiction and a gradual reduction in the number of employees at Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Embassy in Belgrade, in accordance with domestic procedures.
“Until normal politicians emerge who are ready for compromise and agreement — we do not have to agree on everything in history — you will never again insult and humiliate us,” said Konakovic.
Mladic, known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," was found guilty by a UN tribunal of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, including his role in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. He died Aug. 27 while serving a life sentence in prison in The Hague.
