ST. PETERSBURG, June 19. /TASS/. A surge of nationalistic sentiment has been observed in the Balkans, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday at a meeting with President of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik.
"It’s a good opportunity for me to exchange views on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the Balkans in general, taking into account the clear surge of ethnic nationalism that we have observed, with terrorist manifestations in Zvornik and recently in Macedonia," the minister said.
"In this context we certainly consistently pursue the line for the preservation of the main principles of the Dayton Accords," Lavrov said.
Dodik for his part drew attention to the alarming situation caused by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation. He said that some 380 people from Bosnia and Herzegovina are involved in the IS hostilities. "This testifies to the threat to all of us," he said.
Proposed UN SC resolution on Srebrenica to complicate situation in Balkans
Lavrov said the proposed UN Security Council’s resolution on Srebrenica will complicate the situation in the Balkans.
"We have discussed the situation in the UN Security Council, where attempts are being made to push through a resolution timed for the 20th anniversary of the events in Srebrenica," Lavrov said. "The resolution’s tone is absolutely anti-Serbian. It interprets the events in an utterly wrong way even from the legal standpoint. Those events have been given the UN Security Council’s assessment."
Lavrov believes that it may trigger more inter-ethnic frictions in the Balkans."