The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konakovic, announced this Tuesday the expulsion of two members of the Serbian Embassy in Sarajevo, declared 'persona non grata' and required to leave the country within 48 hours for having attended the funeral in Belgrade of the former Serb-Bosnian commander Ratko Mladic.
The Foreign Affairs portfolio explained on social media that "The decision represents a continuation of the concrete measures of the Ministry in response to the glorification of the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic and the unacceptable messages coming from Serbia in recent days."
The two Serbian representatives — the military attaché in Sarajevo, Milan Dulanovic, and the advisor to the representative of the Security Information Agency, Darko Maksimovic — would have crossed "all red lines" with their behavior, according to Bosnian authorities.
Konakovic also advanced that Bosnia and Herzegovina will not sign the joint declaration on good neighborly relations and regional cooperation scheduled for October 1 in Montenegro and that it will reduce the number of diplomats assigned to its mission in Belgrade.
In another message disseminated on social media, the Ministry emphasized that "As a candidate country for the European Union, Serbia is expected to align its legislation and practices with the EU's acquis communautaire. The public and institutional glorification of individuals convicted of genocide and other war crimes is fundamentally incompatible with the standards and values expected of a future EU member state."
The decision has generated friction on the internal front. The Serbian representative in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zeljka Cvijanovic, stated on social media that the mandate of one of the supposedly expelled diplomats "expired a long time ago" and that he had already left the country.
Cvijanovic added that the Foreign Minister lacks the authority to expel diplomats on his own or to appoint and dismiss ambassadors, functions that, she recalled, correspond to the Council of Ministers or the tripartite Presidency.
"For such revocation procedures, it is necessary to have evidence of the reasons that support this decision. I will request from the competent institutions information on whether there are reasons for it, or if Konakovic, out of impotence, has had a fit of rage," he stated, encouraging the Serbian military attaché to remain in the Republic Srpska, where he would receive "hospitality and protection."
As a preliminary step to this diplomatic escalation, Konakovic had confirmed the day before the withdrawal of part of the staff of the Bosnian legation in Belgrade that does not depend on the approval of the tripartite Presidency —composed of a Bosniak, a Croat, and a Serb— a withdrawal that does not affect the ambassador or the consul, who will remain in their positions.
The minister also noted: "We saw that a large number of Serbian officials attended the commemoration and the funeral; Vucic (the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic) was not present because he acted cowardly, probably out of fear of personal sanctions."
Response from Serbia and regional tension
Subsequently, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has replied that the expulsion represents "another counterproductive measure that does not contribute to good neighborly relations, regional stability, or the much-needed easing of political tensions" between both parties.
Belgrade has expressed its concern because, in its view, "It is particularly worrying that Konakovic continues to escalate the situation and uses extremely difficult and painful issues from our common past as a political weapon and in his electoral campaigns. These matters require responsibility and serious dialogue, not political instrumentalization or unilateral actions that further deepen divisions."
The Serbian Ministry has added that it "will not contribute to the escalation," reaffirming its commitment "to peace, stability, and dialogue for the well-being" of its citizens and the entire Balkans. "We will carefully analyze all legal and political aspects of the announced decisions," he specified.
Political context and institutional framework
Bosnia and Herzegovina is structured into two semi-autonomous administrative entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a Bosniak and Croat majority, and the Republic Srpska, with a Serb-Bosnian majority, with Sarajevo as the capital of the country and the Federation.
The expulsion of the diplomats occurs just a few weeks before the general elections, which will take place in a climate of high political tension after the conviction of the president of the Republic Srpska for disobeying the decisions of the High Representative responsible for ensuring compliance with the peace agreements.
The Dayton Agreement, signed in 1995 to end the war, consolidated ethnic divisions both territorially and politically, by establishing a complex institutional framework that allows citizens to vote at the state, entity, and canton levels.