US Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar, who is Washington's special envoy to the Western Balkans, has said that what makes him worried about Bosnia and Herzegovina is the possible economic and demographic collapse of that country.

“I am less worried about a war in Bosnia and Herzegovina than economic and demographic collapse,” he said in Zagreb during a news conference before he travelled to Dubrovnik for the Dubrovnik Forum.

They (BiH) have the worst economic growth in the region, Escobar said commenting on reasons of a decline in the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As a result, “young people are leaving (Bosnia and Herzegovina) not because they do not want to live in a multiethnic society, they are leaving because they cannot find jobs without corrupt connections,” he said.

“That is what we have to fix.”

The political rights should be preserved and protected, he said in response to journalists’ questions about the developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, he put greater emphasis on enabling young people to have a normal life in economic terms.

The US politician said that the economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Serb entity is now “in a very, very bad shape”.

The Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik “is no longer seen as a person who is effective in economic management,” said Escobar.

Ruling out the dissolution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Escobar said that the USA would protect the Dayton agreement.

He underscored that “we would not abandon the Dayton peace agreement, we would not abandon our commitments to that country”.

There is no legal pathway for the secession of either entity he said underscoring the importance of “protecting the territorial territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Escobar said that his country would react very strongly, if necessary, and use all legal means such as sanctions following Dodik’s announcement of a referendum on the status of the Serb entity, and the latest moves by the Bosnian Serb leader that deteriorated the political situation.

The US official said that Dodik “has become one of the biggest mouthpieces” for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the region.

He praises Putin more than Belarus President Alexandar Lukashenko does, Escobar said calling it “a disturbing trend”.