"At talks at the [Bosnia and Herzegovina's] Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at a meeting with the chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. [Milorad] Dodik, we reaffirmed the Russian Federation's principled and firm support for the Dayton Agreement, which ensures the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and guarantees broad constitutional powers for its constituent peoples and equal rights for all the three constituent peoples. We see no need to revise the Dayton Agreement, especially when relevant initiatives come from outside Bosnia," Lavrov said at a press conference, held after his talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bisera Turkovic.
This comes after earlier on Tuesday, two of the three people who comprise the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zeljko Komsic (for the Croats) and Sefik Dzaferovic (for the Bosniaks), refused to meet Lavrov, who is at present paying a working visit to the country.
Lavrov was due to hold talks with Komsic, Dzaferovic and Milorad Dodik this morning.
However, Komsic and Dzaferovic said in a joint statement they would not take part in the meeting, citing their discontent with the fact that the national flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina was missing during Lavrov's meeting with Serbian member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency Milorad Dodik on Monday and also during Lavrov's recent statement on the Dayton Agreement which they believe runs counter to Bosnia's interests.
According to Dzaferovic, Lavrov said that he respected the principles of the Dayton Agreement.
"But what he said during a press conference yesterday and what Russia's ambassador repeats, demonstrate the opposite. To respect the Dayton Agreement means to respect all its provisions. The first thing we should mention is a state, its legacy, its constitution, its flag and emblem. These are symbols of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its institutions. They should be respected, and we did not see due respect yesterday," Dzaferovic added.
As a result, on Tuesday Lavrov only had a meeting with Dodik, and this time the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina was placed in the meeting room.
The Dayton Accords, officially known as the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, were established at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, United States, on 21 November 1995, putting an end to the Bosnian War and marking the foundation of a single sovereign state known as Bosnia and Herzegovina.
