SILAJDŽIĆ: POLITICAL CRISIS IN BOSNIA IS SERIOUS, BUT FABRICATED

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 13,2007) – The political crisis in Bosnia is fairly serious, however,it is fabricated and everything is connected to the issue of Kosovo, a member of the Bosnian Presidency Haris Silajdzic said in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo upon his return from the United States.

Silajdzic said that the purpose of the visit was to present the situation in this region and its implications for Bosnia, and to advocate for the further engagement of the United States in Bosna.

“We have turned attention to the gravity of the situation and the fact that the open issue of Kosovo favours those who wish to see a destabilisation of the situation. There is a clear intention to have two parallel crises so that they can merge into one big crisis and strengthen the negotiating positions of those who have other plans for Kosovo”, Silajdzic told a press conference at the Sarajevo International Airport.

“The international community is not reacting in the right way, especially the EU which has given Serbia a green light for initialling the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, while it stopped Bosnia from doing the same”, Silajdzic said.

He added that the aim of the visit to the United States was also to neutralise a well organised and funded propaganda campaign which has been going on for some time and is already showing effects.

“On the world stage we need to turn to neutralising the effects of that campaign, which is certainly not in the interest of Bosnia”, Silajdzic said.

The so-called Caucus of Congressmen for Bosnia is trying to help in presenting the situation in Bosnia to the American public and politics. 15 US Congressmen have joined this caucus and that this expected to mark a new start for our presence in the US, Silajdzic said.

Commenting on comments from the press that that nationalistic rivalry is pushing Bosnia further into a crisis, Silajdzic said that this can be resolved by working on changes to the Bosnian Constitution that will promote civil values in Bosnia.