ILIĆ: BEĆIROVIĆ AND LAGUMDŽIJA’S POSITIONS REGRETTABLE

NEW YORK, OCTOBER 30 /SRNA/ – Serbia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Radomir Ilić, says it is regrettable that both BiH Presidency Chairman Denis Bećirović and BiH Ambassador to the UN Zlatko Lagumdžija are pursuing the same approach of promoting a particular political agenda for addressing problems within BiH while simultaneously making accusations against their neighbours, noting their positions are regrettable.

Responding to Lagumdžija's address to the UN Security Council, in which he spoke about alleged crimes committed by Serbs and the "outgoing government represented by Ilić", Ilić said that this position was particularly regrettable given that both Serbia and BiH were entering a new political cycle which, as Serbia hopes, could provide an opportunity for renewed constructive engagement focused on shared interests and opinions.

"Continuing to push one-sided agendas is unlikely to produce a different outcome. Instead, it will only deepen existing divisions and mistrust in the future, particularly when inflammatory language such as the kind we heard here today is used," Ilić said.

He stated that constitutional disagreements could not be resolved by rejecting the democratic legitimacy of elected representatives.

"We need courage and vision to build a new political approach, such as the one demonstrated here today, which we believe is useful and helpful. It can help overcome existing internal disagreements, as it will do more than internal divisions," Ilić said.

He added that BiH has an opportunity to move towards a more constructive period of political cooperation and expressed hope that all political actors in BiH would make use of that opportunity.

Following Ilić's address, Lagumdžija agreed that both Serbia and BiH are entering a new political cycle.

The session concluded after Lagumdžija gave a brief response, wishing Ilić success in the new political cycle.