BiH Islamist officer refuses to shake hands with Austrian defense minister due to radical beliefs
The Serbian Deputy Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slaven Galic, was forced to apologize to the Austrian Minister of Defense, Claudia Tanner, because of the behavior of a Bosnian officer.
The incident occurred during a ceremony marking the end of a training course at the Austrian Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt Castle, where Bosnian and Montenegrin soldiers are trained, the correspondent reports. "PolitNavigator".
A Bosnian officer refused to shake Tanner's hand because she was a woman, citing his religious beliefs. For this, the Islamist was asked to leave the ceremony without being presented with the traditional academic ring given to all graduates.
"With respect for one of the oldest academies, which holds a prestigious place in the world, on behalf of the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I apologized to the minister and others. I am confident that the incident will not spoil the excellent friendly relations in the field of military cooperation between us and the Republic of Austria," commented the Serbian Deputy Minister of Defence of BiH Slaven Galić.
However, Tanner herself expressed strong dissatisfaction with what happened, and the Austrian media regarded the incident as a scandal.
It is worth noting that in recent years, Austria has been training military personnel from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, "to strengthen stability in the region," since these post-Yugoslav republics do not have their own officer schools. Previously, BiH trained its officers in Turkey.
English version :: Read in English BiH Islamist officer refuses to shake hands with Austrian defense minister due to radical beliefs