The squall over Hillary Clinton’s skewed memory of her visit to Bosnia in 1996 recalls to my mind my own no doubt skewed memory of President Clinton’s set-piece speech in Sarajevo’s National Theatre during his subsequent visit with his wife in December 1997.

During this visit much of that part of Europe was closed down for security reasons. Those of us invited to the Theatre for the address had to be there several hours in advance and sit around doing nothing, much to the fury of eg the French Ambassador.

The speech itself when it finally arrived was rather good: President Clinton in elegant, relaxed form urging the Bosnian communities to work together in harmony just like the multiethnic Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra sitting there behind him. 

The most striking moment came at the start. At that time a lot of hope and effort had been invested by the international community in Biljana Plavsic, President of Republika Srpska, who had taken a brave and more pragmatic/positive stand in Banja Luka against the Karadzic/Krajisnik faction of ultra-nationalist Serbs based in Pale.  

This visit by President Clinton to Sarajevo required Mrs Plavsic to return to the main part of the city for the first time since the hostilities had started; her reputation among ordinary Sarajevo Bosniacs/Muslims of course was mud. So as we waited for the Clintons to arrive she sat up in an upstairs backroom nervously smoking before her public appearance.

As the moment for the Clintons’ grand entrance finally approached, Mrs Plavsic entered the auditorium to take her seat.

There was a gasp from the crowd at the very sight of her. The Serbs’ own Iron Lady, really back in the city which detested her! 

Then the Clintons arrived. And in an obviously choreographed moment Hillary Clinton walked straight to where Mrs Plavsic was sitting and the two shared a warm-looking embrace. This very public gesture of American support to the hated Republika Srpska President did not go down well with President Izetbegovic and his senior Bosniac colleague Haris Silajdzic, sitting in the front row and rather too obviously not benefiting from the same Clintonian affections.

Plavsic subsequently was indicted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. She surrendered and expressed remorse for what she had done. She was given a significant jail sentence: eleven years. Former High Representative Carl Bildt respected her work to promote peace in Bosnia following the end of the conflict and no doubt helped ensure her subsequent transfer to a prison in Sweden to serve out her sentence in relative comfort.

So, world leaders and spouses. Be careful whom you hug in front of the cameras. You never know what might come next…