The existence of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other state institutions will not be up for discussion and the latest comments of the Russian Ambassador in the country on the issue represents interference in BiH’s internal affairs, the Croat member of the tripartite Presidency, Zeljko Komsic, said on Tuesday.

Komsic was reacting to Ambassador Igor Kalabuhov’s statements regarding the announcement of the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency, Milorad Dodik, that the country’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity will withdraw its agreement to a state-level army. The ambassador said that the issue of the Armed Forces is a matter of consensus in the country.

“The Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Igor Kalabuhov, with his comment on the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, did what Russia itself has been doing for a long time, and that is interference in the internal affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Komsic said.

“The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed by passing appropriate laws in the prescribed procedure in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is the only legislative body of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is not about anyone giving their consent to anything at all, but about the classic procedure of passing laws, which is a practice not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina but in the entire democratic world,” he said.

Komsic argued that the reason behind Kalabuhov’s statement is Bosnia’s progress toward NATO.

“Russia has an active engagement in the Western Balkans in preventing certain countries from becoming members of NATO. As far as Bosnia and Herzegovina is concerned, our path is clear and defined by the decisions of the institutions of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he concluded.