The visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Bosnia in the middle of this month was not like the many other visits he had made before, in each of which he was keen to show his distinguished support for the Bosnian Serbs.

Lavrov arrived in Bosnia on Monday, December 14th, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the signing of the "Dayton Peace Agreement", which ended the war in Bosnia.

He was received by the Russian Minister, Milorad Dodik, a Serbian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who, as usual, expressed a warm welcome to the Russian guest.

On the sidelines of their joint press conference on Tuesday, December 15th, Dodik gave Lavrov a valuable gift, an old Orthodox icon, at the end of the conference, which was attended by intense media attendance.

The Orthodox icon and the seal are the subject of a dispute between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine (communication sites)


The gift turns into a scandal


that would have happened naturally, had the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs not received the next day, December 16, a diplomatic note from the Ukrainian Embassy in Sarajevo, stating that this historical icon is in fact the property of the State of Ukraine, and that it is part Of the Ukrainian cultural heritage, and it has been missing for years, and the Ukrainians demanded an official clarification from the Bosnian government about how the icon was found in Bosnia.

And "the ministry immediately sent the memorandum to the Bosnian Presidency Council, accompanied by a request to officially respond to the allegations contained in the Ukrainian memorandum," as Al-Jazeera Net told the office of Bosnian Foreign Minister Becera Turkovic.

Regarding the next steps that the ministry will take, the minister's office told Al-Jazeera Net, “We are awaiting official instructions from the Presidency Council, and we may act upon the request of“ other Bosnian institutions that have the authority to implement certain measures in this case. ”Apparently referring to what was stated in the statement. The official issued by Minister Turkovic, where it was stated that the seriousness of the matter may require the intervention of other parties such as the Bosnian Intelligence Agency or Interpol.

Harith Darwishevich: The issue carries religious and cultural dimensions (Al-Jazeera Net)


The religious, cultural and legal dimensions.


It is clear that the matter is not related to politics, nor is it only about the tense relations between Russia and Ukraine, but that the issue has a cultural and religious dimension.

To find out about this, Al-Jazeera met the head of the Department of Art History at the University of "Sarajevo", Dr. Harith Dervich, who said, "This icon is about 300 years old and has great religious and cultural importance.

“The religious dimension - as Darwishevich says - is clear from the content of the icon. By holding the Bible open, and having the tape around his neck. "

As for the cultural dimension of the icon, it is shown by the wax seal on the back of the icon. It concerns the Odessa Regional Committee for the Protection of Monuments of Material Culture and Nature, which during the period from 1926 to 1930 searched and excavated cultural monuments in the region of the former Soviet Union, and recorded their discoveries in the records Especially, "adds Darwishevic.

The order appears to have a legal and criminal dimension as well.

The state of Bosnia is among the signatories to the "Convention on Measures for the Prohibition and Prevention of the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Cultural Property" (UNESCO-1970), and if we take this into account, there are two conflict areas: First, how did the icon arrive in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

And the second, how did you leave it without obtaining the approval of the competent cultural institutions?

On the impact of that incident on Bosnian-Russian relations, Tariq Lazovic, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Avaz", told Al-Jazeera Net that "diplomatic norms do not know anything similar to what happened, and certainly the tension in relations between Russia and Ukraine has added more sensitivity to the event. In my opinion, this event will not." It will have a great impact on the bilateral relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia, but it will definitely affect Russia's relationship with the Bosnian Serbs, and more so with Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb representative in the Presidency Council. "

Tariq Lazovich: The tension in relations between Russia and Ukraine has added greater sensitivity to the incident (Al-Jazeera)


The Russians return the gift


. Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that "the icon - presented to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Bosnia and Herzegovina - will be returned to the donors for further clarification of its history."

This was confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net, the Bosnian Foreign Minister’s office, saying, “On Wednesday, December 23, the ministry received verbal confirmation from the Bosnian embassy in Moscow that the Russian Foreign Ministry had delivered the icon to the embassy, ​​and that it would be returned to Bosnia as soon as possible.”

The minister's office adds that "there is no procedure in Bosnian law that regulates the return of gifts that a foreign official receives from Bosnian officials, so this case is the first in our diplomatic practice."

Despite the official statement issued by the office of Milorad Dodik, which denies that the icon is stolen, and that there is no criminal suspicion in the matter;

The leaked news that the Bosnian ambassador to Moscow has cordially returned the icon to Dodik's office raises countless question marks.

It should be noted that the visit of the Russian foreign minister to Bosnia - from its beginning - was loaded with a lot of tension, and was the subject of many criticisms, due to the similar measures that violate diplomatic norms.

Lavrov met Dodik in a suburb outside the capital Sarajevo, and the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina was not present, neither at the meeting of the two delegations, nor during the press conference they held the following day.

Likewise, Lavrov's statements - at the press conference - regarding the need to amend the "Dayton Agreement", angered the Bosnians, and in protest against that;

The Bosnian Bosnian Presidency Council members, Chafik Jafarovic and the Croatian Gilko Komesic, issued a statement declaring their refusal to meet with the Russian Foreign Minister.

It was content to organize a meeting of the Russian minister with the Bosnian Foreign Minister, Becera Turkovic, contrary to what is usual, as the Bosnian Presidency Council, complete (with its three members), is keen to meet with ministers and senior officials representing countries of importance such as Russia.