Serbia writes to UNSG over Becirovic's UNGA address

NEW YORK - Serbia has written to the UN Secretary General and the UN General Assembly president in response to a speech by Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency Chairman Denis Becirovic in the UNGA in which he has levelled a series of unfounded and malicious accusations against Serbia and the Serbs, Tanjug learns.

The letter warns of an attempt by Becirovic to revive regional conflicts from the 1990s by using a worn-out narrative about a "Greater Serbia."

It notes that, continuously and on every occasion, Serbia's political leadership has expressed support for the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, making Becirovic's accusations against Serbia as a purported threat to someone even more malicious.

Serbia is no threat to peace but is oriented towards the future, which is causing unease among those who would like to return the region to the dark past, the letter says.

Serbia's position is that efforts must be made to create a political climate for reconciliation, cooperation and lasting peace in the Western Balkan region, rather than fuel old fears, it also says.

Even more ironically, Bosniak politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina are accusing Serbia of making threats even though they themselves have been destroying the Dayton Agreement systematically, robbing Republika Srpska in recent years of around a hundred of its powers guaranteed under that agreement, the letter says.

The letter also notes that Becirovic addressed the UNGA without a platform approved by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, violating the laws of his own country.

Serbia remains firmly committed to peace, good-neighbourly relations and regional cooperation, which will be Serbia's answer to those who are striving to provoke tensions and disagreements in the Balkans, the letter concludes.

In a reaction to Becirovic's speech, Serbian FM Marko Djuric said Becirovic's actions had demonstrated he was trying to "undermine the Dayton order within Bosnia and Herzegovina in a malignant manner and to accuse Serbia - a country that has for years and for more than two and a half decades supported, consistently and strongly, the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and, of course, the integrity of Republika Srpska and the Federation (of Bosnia and Herzegovina) within Bosnia and Herzegovina - before the international public, demonstrating that he does not care about regional cooperation and good-neighbourly relations."

"Really, we did not even expect anything more intelligent from Denis Becirovic, but that he would be a disgrace to his own country in front of the eyes of the world in trying to accuse, falsely and maliciously, the neighbourly and friendly country of Serbia," Djuric said.