BOSNIAK OPINIONS AND MANIPULATIONS PACKAGED IN "MONOGRAPH"

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 25 /SRNA/ - Head of the BiH Mission to the EU Obrad Kesić told SRNA that there can be no complete picture of BiH diplomacy without the BiH Presidency, nor can such a picture be created through a single "monograph," which is an attempt at manipulation and reflects only the views of the Bosniak political elite.

"This is a one-sided presentation, but such a monograph can in no way be published under the title `BiH Diplomacy,` because BiH diplomacy first and foremost implies the Presidency and its decisions, and secondly, it should represent the two entities and the three constituent peoples," Kesić stressed. Kesić pointed out that the published "monograph" represents only Bosniak diplomacy and that its purpose is an attempt at manipulation and at establishing some kind of state continuity of BiH since 1992. "The Monograph is an attempt to reopen that issue and overlook the fact that today's BiH is completely different from the one that was recognized," Kesić stressed. Kesić explained that the Dayton Agreement not only created the Constitution of today's BiH, but that the Washington Agreement had previously been signed, from which many provisions concerning the Federation of BiH were transferred into the Dayton Agreement. He noted that this monograph can represent only Bosniak diplomacy. "It can in no way represent some kind of joint diplomacy. From the very beginning, we have known that Bosniak political parties have built a parallel diplomacy and have the feeling that BiH belongs only to them, and therefore also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs /in the Council of Ministers/," Kesić said. Kesić said that this monograph confirms that. "It may contain some ambassadors appointed by Republika Srpska, and perhaps some ambassadors who are from the Croat people, but essentially the monograph is not accurate when it comes to the facts and the actual state of diplomacy, which has suffered a collapse during the mandate of Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković," Kesić said. He stressed that Konaković had completely appropriated the ministry and was behaving as if he, rather than the BiH Presidency, were in charge of BiH foreign policy. "This is the third thing we need to bear in mind. I have not had the opportunity to see the monograph, but I am very interested to know whether the ministry and diplomacy are presented in the context of the Constitution or outside the Constitution, and in the context of some kind of national Bosniak policy, because, essentially, foreign policy, the appointment of ambassadors and consul generals - all of that comes from the BiH Presidency," he explained.