The United States Embassy in Sarajevo has blasted the Russian Ambassador’s threat against Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) possible NATO membership.
“The Russian Ambassador’s latest threats to Bosnia and Herzegovina are dangerous, irresponsible, and unacceptable. No third party has a say in security arrangements between NATO and sovereign countries. We will continue to stand firmly by Bosnia and Herzegovina as it takes the necessary steps to secure its place in the Euro-Atlantic community of nations,” the US embassy tweeted on Thursday.
On the same day, Russian Ambassador Igor Kalbukhov threatened BiH, drawing parallels between its possible NATO membership request and that of Ukraine.
“If [BiH] decides to be a member of any alliance, that is an internal matter. Our response is a different matter. Ukraine’s example shows what we expect. Should there be any threat, we will respond,” Kalabukhov warned.
Ambassador Kalabukhov added that Russia has no plan of response in case of BiH’s possible steps toward NATO but that it would respond after having analyzed the situation.
BiH and Serbia and the two Western Balkan countries that have not imposed sanctions on Russia over the aggression against Ukraine.
