Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 07/02/2022
After commenting on the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milanovic’s statement was misinterpreted, thus claiming that he described EU diplomatic representatives in BiH as people from “northern Europe who do not understand a thing”.
Readers of Raskrinkavanja have submitted an article taken from the website Klix, published on February 1, with the following title:
Milanovic disappointed with negotiations in Neum: Croats forced into a partnership with Dodik
The article talks about the visit of Croatian President Zoran Milanovic to the exhibition “Kopac” in Mestrovic’s pavilion in Zagreb. Milanovic, among other things, spoke about Bosnia and Herzegovina and the negotiations between the representatives of political parties on changing the BiH Election Law, held in Neum. He also mentioned the diplomatic representatives of the European Union in BiH, about whom, as Klix states, he said the following:
He also referred to the diplomatic representatives from the EU who came to help achieve peace in BiH.
“These are some people from northern Europe who do not understand a thing”, Milanovic concluded.
The article from Klix was also shared by websites Srpska cafe, Cazin (.ba), Cafe, Glas Srpske, BL portal, EP BiH, TV K3, Ozren media and RTV Herceg-Bosne.
What are the facts?
Despite Klix’s allegations, Milanovic did not call the EU diplomatic representatives in BiH people from “northern Europe who do not understand a thing” at the press conference.
Milanovic spoke about the current negotiations on changing the Election Law in BiH, stating that “Bosniak parties are encouraged to go after the Croats”. He also criticized the High Representative of the International Community, Christian Schmidt, and mentioned Bakir Izetbegovic and Milorad Dodik, and the website Klix accurately presented that part of the statement:
Well, there will be elections either way, said the High Representative of the EU or the international community, who was not confirmed by the UN Security Council, two days ago. Dodik is right here. So, the Croats are negotiating with the Bosniaks in Neum, and the guy says there will be elections anyway. What is the motive for Bakir to negotiate, Milanovic asked
He added that Bosniaks are going for “the unitarization of a state legal entity that must be federal”.
“BiH does not exist without Croats, it doesn not exist without Serbs who are more numreous than Croats, and in the end you are forcing Croats not into an embrace, but into a partnership with Dodik”, he said, accusing the international community of “encouraging the Sarajevo Bazaar”, said the Croatian president.
He then spoke about the Croatian government, which is against his position, saying that it is not some people from northern Europe “who do not understand a thing”, but people who are there. A recording of the press conference was published on the YouTube channel of Vecernji list on February 1, and at 15:18 Milanovic’s statement about “some people from northern Europe” can be heard:
All these resolutions and documents and conclusions of the Council of Ministers to which I reacted, I reacted in order to simply send a clear message that the behavior of the Sarajevo Bazaar is not encouraged. However, no. Let it be that some people from northern Europe who do not understand a thing are against my position, but the Croatian government, here, they are saboteurs. They are saboteurs. So they do not want to do what they can […]
Based on the recording, it is clear that Milanovic did not call the EU diplomatic representatives in BiH people who “do not understand a thing” but that he spoke about the Croatian government in that context. Milanovic, on the other hand, criticized the representatives of the international community, commenting that they were obstructing the process, given that the situation remains unchanged, which can be heard at the press conference recording at 16:13:
The presidents of the international community do neither harm nor benefit. Those who have now mediated cannot say that they have negative intentions, but they are essentially hindering the process because nothing is moving, nothing. Everything stands still.
Given the facts, we assess the claim that Milanovic called the diplomatic representatives of the European Union in BiH “people from northern Europe who do not understand a thing” as disinformation.