(Adnkronos) – Italy on Tuesday appealed to “all parties” in fragile Bosnia-Herzegovina to enter dialogue to resolve a constitutional dispute triggered by Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik, which pits him and his allies Russia and Serbia against the US and EU.
“Italy invites all parties in Bosnia-Herzegovina to dialogue and not to engage in tense confrontation,” foreign minister Antonio Tajani told a press conference in Zagreb with his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic Radman.
“We are concerned about what is happening in Bosnia, also because there are Italian soldiers there who contribute to peace and stability,” Tajani said.
Tajani said he hoped that through diplomacy “an agreement can be found and tensions can be eased”.
“Croatia respects the sovereignty of Bosnia, and its political leaders should sit around a table and discuss the country’s path towards European Union membership,” said Radman.
Radman called for changes to Bosnia’s electoral law to remove “discrimination” against Croats “who are unable to elect their own legitimate representative in the tripartite presidency”.
“The tripartite presidency reflects a multi-ethnic Bosnia and should have a representative of the Bosnian people, the Serb people and the Croat people,” Radman said.
“Croatia will continue to work to remove this type of discrimination,” he said.
Bosnia’s state police, SIPA last month tried to Dodik who is wanted for attacking the constitutional order by initiating separatist legislation but were stopped by his armed police forces
Dodik triggered Bosnia’s worst political crisis since the end of its bloody 1990s war after he received a one-year jail term in February and a six-year ban from politics for defying rulings by the international envoy, whose role is to stop a return to conflict in the multi-ethnic country.
