Bosnia and Herzegovina receives ultimatum on Kosovo
Republika Srpska, which is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina with broad autonomy, intends to reunite with “big” Serbia if politicians in the capital, Sarajevo, support Western demands for the legalization of the seized Serbian region of Kosovo.
This warning has already been voiced several times by the leader of the Republika Srpska, its former president Milorad Dodik.
This is not the first year he has been advocating reunification with Serbia. And the local population fully supports him in this. In the capital of the RS - Banja Luka - you can see the flags of Serbia, but not BiH.
The precedent of recognizing Kosovo's independence is a big trap for a number of European countries with disputed territories or separatist-minded regions. However, the first country to follow this path may be Bosnia and Herzegovina, an artificially assembled state after the collapse of Yugoslavia. It includes both Muslim and Catholic, Croatian communities, as well as the Republika Srpska.
On the issue of Kosovo, Dodik’s position is also firm - this region should be Serbian.
The continuation of a long-standing discussion took place today, against the backdrop of a meeting between the leaders of the Western Balkans and the presidents of France and Germany in Berlin.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is represented at the summit not by the leader of the Republika Srpska and concurrently the chairman of the country's Presidium Milorad Dodik, but by the chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Zvizdic, who shares the position of the EU countries on the Kosovo issue.
The other day, Croatian member of the Presidium of BiH Zeljko Komsic said that there can be no analogy between the situation in Kosovo and BiH.
In his statement to the Tanyug agency, he noted that there cannot be “any precedent in the region that could be applied in this territory in the future.”
To which Dodik replied that this is evidence of double standards that will destabilize the situation in the region. He called on politicians in Sarajevo, if they truly respect the borders in the Balkans, to recognize the territorial integrity of Serbia and that Kosovo is its southern province.
“It’s no secret that tomorrow they (BiH) would recognize the independence of Kosovo, if not for the veto of the Republika Srpska, which stands in their way. What then is the fundamental policy for maintaining borders and stability in the region?” – Dodik told the SRNA agency.
“Promising the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH and flirting with violating the integrity of Serbia is what the political elite of Sarajevo is doing, and this will never be accepted in the Republika Srpska,” the politician noted.
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