Moscow has warned Bosnia and Herzegovina that getting closer to NATO membership would mean choosing a side in the current Russian confrontation with the West and an act of hostility to Russia, which would necessarily have consequences, the Russian embassy in Sarajevo has announced.

“In the case of practical rapprochement of BiH and NATO, our country will have to react to this hostile act,” the Embassy said in a statement published on its webpage in Bosniak and Russian.

The reaction of the Russian Embassy in Sarajevo to the discussion between relations between BiH and NATO came after numerous publications praised the advantages of Bosnia and Herzegovina joining NATO.

According to Russia, BiH should reconsider such a move because NATO’s eastward expansion has benefitted no one.

“Contrary to our Western partners, we do not impose a choice of foreign policy priorities, but at the same time we call on our friends in BiH to think carefully, to weigh the pros and cons and take into account the views of all citizens, who are far from consensus on the issue”, the Russian Embassy said in its statement. /Željko Trkanjec, EURACTIV