The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, stated that any attempt to abolish Republika Srpska will have the most serious consequences for peace, security, and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans as a whole.
She made this statement while commenting on reports that the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina had ordered the detention of Milorad Dodik, Radovan Višković, and Nenad Stevandić.
Zakharova emphasized that this represents outright legal lawlessness.
“I remember how just a few years ago, many journalists, with apparent disgust, argued that such a term should not be included in diplomatic vocabulary. No, it must be. This is exactly what it is—legal lawlessness, which has for a long time subjected a legally elected representative of the Serb people to persecution. Let me remind you that this is a person who was legally elected to represent the Serb people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. All of this is happening in the context of a major political campaign against Republika Srpska. In other words, these are not just some individual disputes between certain people. It is clear that when politicization literally destroys the rule of law, this becomes a global political attack on an ethno-cultural entity and the people represented by Milorad Dodik,” said Zakharova.
She added that this is part of a broader effort to accuse the President of Republika Srpska and his associates of “attempting to undermine the constitutional order and to remove him, along with those obstructing the implementation of the Euro-Atlantic agenda in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the political scene.”
“This is not merely being imposed—it is being forcibly installed from above. It appears that so much is at stake that force is being used, in direct violation of law and order, morality and ethics, and even common sense, to push this through in such a horrifying manner. We regret that the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was designed to protect the rights and freedoms enshrined in the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, as well as the fundamental principles of equality among the three constituent peoples and the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina with broad constitutional powers, is being used to target political opponents. We have warned repeatedly, and we will say it again: the desire (which we understand all too well) to abolish Republika Srpska will have the most serious consequences for peace, security, and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans as a whole,” Zakharova stated.
As one of the guarantors of the Dayton Agreement, she emphasized that Russia insists on an immediate end to the politically motivated persecution of legitimate leaders of Republika Srpska, a return to the legal framework, the restoration of dialogue among the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the elimination of dangerous and destructive interference by Western powers.
“We know President Milorad Dodik and his associates as true patriots of their people. Any attempt to fabricate ‘stories’ about them and their connections with our country collapses under the weight of their genuine patriotism toward their compatriots, fellow citizens, and the people who entrusted them with the most important authority and responsibility for deciding their fate (so long-suffering, so difficult). Everything that President Milorad Dodik and his associates do on the international stage is not only (and there is nothing wrong with this—only good) about developing relations and maintaining friendly, mutually beneficial contacts, but, above all, about securing the rights and freedoms of their people,” Zakharova said, as published on the official page of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
She added that they are fighters for the rights and interests of the Serb people.
“I sincerely wish and believe that they will overcome with honor and dignity all the intrigues, hardships, and trials that have befallen them,” she concluded.
Source: Glas Srske
