SARAJEVO, APRIL 18 (ONASA) – Anyone who closely follows events in Bosnia and Herzegovina is quite clear about who is causing the current political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and who is exacerbating tensions in the country. It is not an international community. Domestic political leaders are you, especially Mr. Dodik, who spends a lot of time and energy shifting the blame for his own failures onto others. We doubt that anyone who has closely followed the politics of this country for the last 15 years would be so naive as to believe him.
The United States of America has been working on behalf of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina for more than 30 years, and we have consistently and strongly urged political leaders to adopt the reforms necessary for the country’s progress towards NATO and the EU. We held firmly to those standards, and when party leaders proposed solutions that did not conform to them, we expressed our concerns both privately and publicly.
We have not lowered our standards or expectations to make the leader of any party happy. We know that some people are not happy about it, and so are some party leaders, but we are not here to please them.
We are here to promote, protect and defend America’s interests and we have been quite clear on this matter: we support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and multi-ethnic character of Bosnia and Herzegovina and we support its integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. These goals are shared by us and the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the statement of the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (end)