Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has cancelled what would have been his first official visit to Sarajevo, after Bakir Izetbegovic–the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency–made inflammatory comments about the arrest of former Bosniak military commander Naser Oric on a Serbian warrant. Swiss police executed the arrest warrant on Oric last week; Swiss courts are now considering Serbia’s extradition request. Soon after the arrest was announced, Izetbegovic suggested that Nikolic’s visit be postponed.
“We expected that in the spirit of good neighbourly relations, the Republic of Serbia would… relay this case to Bosnia and Herzegovina and would not send its extradition request for Mr. Oric to Switzerland,” Izetbegovic explained in a statement on Monday.
“In light of this new situation, I believe that the official visit of the president of the Republic of Serbia to Bosnia and Herzegovina at this moment would not contribute to the goals for which it was planned,” he said.
Nikolic accused Izetbegovic of trying to undermine relations between the two countres.
“As a leader in the region, Serbia is a factor of peace and stability. A confirmation of that was supposed to be… the visit to Sarajevo,” Nikolic said in his statement.
“Unfortunately, instead of calming tensions in the region through discussion, a demand for the postponement of the meeting followed, so that certain individuals could gain political points among ultra-nationalists,” he said.
