Bosnia protests Israel after state flag omitted during official meetings
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Ministry has lodged a diplomatic protest with Israel on Wednesday after the country’s official state flag was not displayed during meetings with Israeli officials, according to media reports.
The note stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s flag, the country’s only internationally recognized state symbol, was absent during Bosnian Presidency member Zeljka Cvijanovic’s meetings with Israeli officials during her visit last weekend, said media reports, citing Foreign Ministry sources,
Instead, a flag representing Republika Srpska, one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two entities, was displayed in a manner that created the impression of official state representation.
The ministry argued that the incident constituted a failure to show appropriate respect for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereignty, constitutional order and internationally recognized symbols, adding that the omission did not reflect the level of mutual respect that should characterize relations between the two countries.
Cvijanovic, the Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite Presidency, visited Israel last Sunday and Monday, where she met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
Photographs released Monday from the meetings on US social media company X showed the flag of Republika Srpska displayed instead of the state flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The visit also sparked controversy after Saar wrote on X that he and Cvijanovic discussed “the need to protect Christian minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
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