Konakovic: No Military Attache or BIA Officer for Serbia
Konakovic expelled Serbia's military attache and a BIA associate from Sarajevo and said he won't approve replacements, while Ambassador Vranjes calls the move pure populism.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic declared two staff members of Serbia’s embassy in Sarajevo persona non grata on September 8: military attache Milan Dulanovic and Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) advisor Darko Maksimovic, giving them 48 hours to leave the country. Serbian outlets had already reported the expulsion earlier that day, though without naming the two men. Their identities are now known, and Konakovic has gone a step further, announcing that no one will take their place until Belgrade’s attitude toward Bosnia and Herzegovina changes, in his assessment. For Serbia, that means one of its two key diplomatic posts in Sarajevo, covering military and security affairs, will sit empty for the foreseeable future, at a moment when relations between the two countries are already strained.
Konakovic cited Serbian officials’ treatment of Ratko Mladic following his death and funeral in Belgrade with full state honors as the trigger for the move. In a second statement the same day, he said Serbia shouldn’t even bother sending new names, since he won’t approve them: “There will be no military attache and BIA advisor in Serbia’s embassy until further notice.” He added that he would scale relations with Belgrade down to a minimum until, in his words, its attitude toward Bosnia and Herzegovina changes.
Vranjes: “Pure populism”
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ambassador in Belgrade, Aleksandar Vranjes, responded that embassy staff are protected under civil service regulations, that the minister cannot unilaterally strip them of their mandate, and that each of them has the right to appeal his decision to a second-instance body. He went further, calling the move a political maneuver:
This is pure populism, where he tried to score some points in a match he’s already losing. And if nothing else, he’s alarmed people. You know, this morning people started coming to us, worried that the consular department was going to be shut down.
Vranjes made the comments to media in Belgrade, adding that a possible appeal before the Appeals Board could overturn the minister’s decision. He went even further in reading his Bosnian counterpart’s intentions, arguing that Konakovic is using bombastic statements to try to boost his standing with Bosniak voters ahead of elections the ambassador believes he is already losing, and that having his decision overturned by a higher body would expose his political powerlessness and turn his term into a fiasco.
A separate claim surfaced publicly that Maksimovic has not actually been in Bosnia and Herzegovina since August, which calls into question the point of the expulsion order itself. Konakovic did not address that directly, saying only that he does not care whether one of the diplomats organized a private gathering in the meantime.
Belgrade and Banja Luka React
Serbia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Konakovic’s move as yet another non-constructive step that does nothing for good neighborly relations, regional stability, or easing political tensions. Belgrade said it would not take part in a spiral of escalation, but would examine every legal and political aspect of the decision, including questions of authority and procedure. Meanwhile, Zeljka Cvijanovic spoke out from Republika Srpska, calling on the military attache to stay.
What happens next depends on whether Dulanovic and Maksimovic file an appeal at all, and whether a higher authority within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s judiciary takes it up before the 48 hour deadline runs out. Serbia’s Foreign Ministry has not yet said when it will announce the results of its own review of authority and procedure, leaving the dispute unresolved.
