Russia threatens Bosnia and Herzegovina over NATO membership

A Russian ambassador on Thursday mentioned Bosnia and Herzegovina might face the identical navy aggression unleashed on Ukraine if the nation joins NATO.

Igor Kalbukhov made the remarks throughout an interview with broadcaster FTV on Thursday. He famous that the nation is free to affix the 30-member alliance however that Moscow would reply, Euractiv reported.

“If (Bosnia and Herzegovina) decides to be a member of any alliance, that’s an inside matter,” he mentioned. “Our response is a unique matter. Ukraine’s instance reveals what we count on. Ought to there be any risk, we’ll reply.”

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Kalbukhov then accused the West of stoking division and tensions by claiming Russia is making ready “a plan.”

“We should not have any plans. We are going to reply having analyzed the strategic and geopolitical state of affairs,” the ambassador mentioned. NATO membership isn’t a actuality for BiH given the present lack of consensus on the matter within the nation, he added.

Moscow has vehemently opposed a NATO enlargement, significantly with nations it shares borders with. A day after the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine, Russian overseas ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova issued a warning to Finland and Sweden.

“Finland and Sweden mustn’t base their safety on damaging the safety of different international locations and their accession to NATO can have detrimental penalties and face some navy and political penalties,” she mentioned in a video clip. 

Finnish Ambassador to the US, Mikko Hautala, informed Fox Information that Russia has at all times voiced opposition to his nation’s membership in NATO. 

“I believe we’re very well ready. We’ve among the best armies in Europe. We’ve a extremely sturdy protection. We’ve actually good worldwide companions,” he mentioned. “We aren’t ready that we’d get scared due to one assertion. There’s nothing new. That is the previous Russian place.”