”The increased presence of the European Union Force (EUFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) should not be given special importance and there could be no escalation that would turn into an armed conflict, ” Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday, adding that Milorad Dodik’s statements on secession were “political rhetoric.”
It is important to note that the European Union (EU) last week decided to increase EUFOR forces from 600 to 1.100 troops by sending reserves from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia to prevent potential instability following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
France announced on Saturday that it would conduct training flights over BiH in light of the deteriorating international security situation.
On the debate in the European Parliament on the proposal to impose European sanctions on the member of the Presidency of BiH Milorad Dodik because of corruption and threats to the country’s stability, Milanovic said that he “does not like rants” that “cowards usually make”.
The Croatian president said that Dodik is the representative of the Serbian people in BiH and that he is “the interlocutor we know well”, but he is afraid of “those he does not know”.
Regarding Dodik’s statements calling for the secession of Republika Srpska (RS), Milanovic said that “political rhetoric” is one thing, and a real goal is something else.
”While there is no violence, and there is no violence, he is my interlocutor,” Milanovic repeated. The same thing can be said for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in a situation where Serbia is ‘deciding’ between the West and Russia.
”They support Russia, all right, Serbian thing,” Milanovic said, adding that Ukraine “did not even look at the Serbs in a wrongway.”
