Ivan Kostić, an analyst from the Belgrade-based Balkan Centre for the Middle East, notes that Bosniak leaders are not the only ones
wishing to present a powerful outside country as their nation’s sponsor and protector.
“Such populist statements are used to create a feeling among citizens that there is a ‘big brother’ who will take care of them,” he explained.
“Serbian officials, for example, often refer to their connection to ‘Mother Russia.’ But such statements are not positive or constructive,”
Kostić told Balkan Insight.