Bosnia Embassy Row: Konakovic Announces Disciplinary Action
Bosnia's foreign minister says staff recalled after Mladic's funeral broke ministry rules. They say they were following the orders of Ambassador Vranjes.
The diplomatic dispute between Sarajevo and Belgrade, which began with the burial of Ratko Mladic in the Serbian capital with state and military honors, is now being fought inside the Bosnian Embassy in Belgrade itself. Bosnia’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic confirmed on October 30 that staff he had recalled from Belgrade went back to work on the orders of Ambassador Aleksandar Vranjes. He issued them a new travel order and announced disciplinary proceedings against “those individuals”.
What did Konakovic say about the travel order?
Konakovic told Klix.ba that the document under dispute is the one the staff used to travel to Sarajevo.
“The travel order under which they came when they were summoned for consultations was signed by Ambassador Vranjes.”
According to the minister, that order is valid for 30 days, and the ambassador used a procedural option not to sign a new one. Konakovic also commented on what this means for the employees:
“In this way, Vranjes has only created a bigger problem for the people who work in the Ministry.”
He also described the next step, which was taken that same morning.
“This morning we issued a new instruction and wrote a new travel order from the Ministry.”
The staff, he said, must return to Sarajevo: “Those employees must be in Sarajevo again for consultations, we will schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning.” That puts the meeting on October 31. The minister also claims the staff, together with the ambassador, violated a number of ministry regulations, which is why disciplinary proceedings are being opened.
What do the staff and the ambassador say?
Istraga.ba presents the other side, citing a letter the staff sent to the Foreign Ministry. By their account, they met Konakovic in Sarajevo on October 2, where they were told that nobody had any complaints about their work and that the reason for the summons was a political message to Serbia. They say they received no official assignment in Sarajevo and were singled out only because of their ethnicity. After about 14 days they returned to Belgrade, because, as they put it, their immediate superior had ordered them to. On October 14, Vranjes told them by email that the order expired on October 15 and that they should report for duty at the embassy on October 16.
When they were called to a new meeting at the ministry on October 23, scheduled for October 26, the ambassador, according to Istraga.ba, refused to give his consent for the trip, citing Article 22, paragraph 2 of the ministry’s Rulebook on Internal Organization. The meeting therefore never took place, and the minister’s cabinet asked them to explain in writing why they had not come. They replied on October 29 and said that two of the questions in that request were meant as pressure.
“We therefore consider that your questions numbered 3 and 4 are intended as psychological harassment, aimed at undermining our dignity and professional integrity.”
This is the only source for the sequence of events between October 2 and October 29, so this version rests on the claims of the staff and the ambassador, without a ministry response to the individual allegations.
How many staff members were recalled?
The sources disagree. Istraga.ba names five people: Oliver Micic, Ranka Ujic, Sladjana Cvijovic, Sanja Kusmuk and Marko Kovacevic. Srpskainfo mentions a smaller number and names only Micic and Kovacevic. Bosnia’s Central Election Commission removed Micic as chair of the polling board at the embassy because of his departure.
How did the dispute start?
Konakovic recalled the staff in September, after Mladic’s funeral on September 7. At that time he also expelled two officials of the Serbian Embassy in Sarajevo, military attache Milan Dulanovic and Security Information Agency (BIA) adviser Danko Maksimovic, who had to leave the country within 48 hours. The Bosnian Embassy in Belgrade called the recall politically motivated and discriminatory, and said that without a first secretary its consular section cannot accept visa and travel document applications.
The meeting in Sarajevo is set for the morning of October 31. At the time of publication it was not known whether the staff will appear, or whether they will again cite the ambassador’s consent, as they did on October 26.
