Page 55 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine December 2023

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state union of Montenegro, Serbia
and Republika Srpska and there were no consequences. Not to mention the denial of genocide, etc. He has not been prosecuted, and it needed to be done five times so far,” Miletic said.
However, he added he does not believe that the Bosnian state will collapse.
“The disintegration of Bosnia and Herzegovina will not happen. There are people who are paid to stop such activities and believe me there are people who do their job professionally and would not allow it. Ultimately, even if there are not enough EUFOR forces, Nato forces will come to the rescue,” the MP said.
He added he expects that Dodik will end up in prison.
Meanwhile, a group of Bosnian MPs wrote to the US and EU officials, saying that the threat of terrorism in Bosnia is rising.
“Unfortunately, Bosnia & Herzegovina, especially in the last few years, is facing anti-constitutional, secessionist and retrograde policies that are encouraged and promoted by certain officials of
the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), a political party led by Milorad Dodik. The main determinant of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the foundation
for peace, stability and prosperity, which is the territorial integrity, sovereignty, political independence
and international legal subjectivity
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are continuously contested,” the MPs wrote.
They noted that the official documents from SNSD’s 2015 congress stated that Dodik and his party’s strategic goal is the secession of the Republika Srpska, “i.e. the completion of the war goals by political means”.
The MPs warned that Dodik and
his SNSD party have intensified activities that undermine the Dayton agreement that ended the Bosnian
war, and are provoking constant crises and blockades, while insulting and provoking pro-state political forces and representatives of the international community.
“Milorad Dodik is also the only politician in Europe who, since the beginning of the aggression against
Ukraine, has personally visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow twice and has given him full support for all his activities,” they added.
The MPs warned that the facts stated in their letter confirm the fact that prominent SNSD officials represent the extended hand of the Kremlin regime in the Western Balkans and a proxy of Russian interests in Bosnia.
“Following the example of that
regime, the Republika Srpska National Assembly adopted a law criminalising defamation, representing a direct attack on freedom of expression and freedom of the press and returns us to the period of censorship and totalitarian and autocratic single-mindedness,” they said.
“After considering all of the above,
we can clearly and unequivocally conclude that the biggest threat to peace in Bosnia & Herzegovina is not represented by made-up “religious radicalism” or “foreign interventionism” but the actions and moves of SNSD officials, most of which are headed by Milorad Dodik, who was placed on the US and UK’s black list,” the MPs noted.
Zelenskiy warns Russia planning to destabilise Balkans and Moldova
bne IntelliNews
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on November 15 that Russia may instigate fresh crises in the Balkans and Moldova as a strategy to divert global attention away from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
While Russia’s influence in the Western Balkans has waned in recent years, Moscow maintains close ties with pro-Russian politicians in some countries, in particular Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Moldova.
Speaking to a group of African journalists, Zelenskiy suggested that
Russia, along with its ally Iran, could be orchestrating events in the Middle East as a convenient distraction of Western powers’ attention from Ukraine.
He urged the international community to take notice of the Balkans too, indicating that Russia might have a long-term plan to create instability in the region if preventive measures are not taken.
"This is an explosion in the Middle East, Russia is behind this, we are sure, with their allies Iran," Zelkenskiy said as quoted by Interfax Ukraine.
"Pay attention to the Balkans. Believe me, we are receiving information: Russia has a long plan. The Middle East, there will be the Balkans, at least, if the countries of the world do nothing now, there will be such an explosion again," the Ukrainian president added.
There have been fears since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that Moscow could seek to destabilise Bosnia, where the pro- Russian president of the Bosnian Serb entity, Republika Srpska, has long been agitating for secession.
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