Thewesternbalkans.
According to Dmitry Peskov, quoted by TASS, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has received on Tuesday the President of the Bosnian Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik in the Kremlin.
“I am glad to see you in Moscow,” Putin said at the beginning of the meeting.
The Bosnian Serb leader arrived in Moscow last night despite an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol’s office in Sarajevo.
Earlier, Dodik published a video message on the social network Ex, in which he said:
“I arrived in Moscow. I begin each of my stays here with a visit to the Monument of the Unknown Soldier to pay tribute to the 28 million Russians who died in World War II. I will be here again on May 9 at the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism”.
Comments: On February 26, Milorad Dodik was sentenced by a Bosnian court to one year in prison and a six-year ban on political activity for non-compliance with the decisions of the High Representative of the international community, Christian Schmidt. On March 17, the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an arrest warrant for Dodik and two other representatives of the Republika Srpska Parliament – Nenad Stevandić, President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, and Radovan Višković, Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, who are suspected of attacking the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Interpol’s decision on the red notice for Dodik and Stevandic, who entered and exited Bosnia unhindered in the weeks after the arrest warrant, is still awaited. Stevandić was in Belgrade and then returned to Banja Luka, and Dodik was in Belgrade and Israel before he goes to Moskow.
Dodik’s actions leave the impression that the events in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 6 months only strengthen his position. He may be anything but isolated: meeting with Orban in Hungary, then with Vucic in Banja Luka and Serbia, then meeting with the Israeli finance minister and Netanyahu in Israel, and on Tuesday with Putin in Russia. This was his 26th meeting with the Russian president. Certainly, Dodik visited Moscow not only to pay tribute to the fallen Russian soldiers during World War II, but also to seek support for the independence of República Srpska. It is known that Dodik’s last visit to the Russian capital with such a request ended in failure. Now, however, the situation may turn out to be different.
