”Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) must receive the European Union (EU) candidate status at the same time because otherwise, it would encourage pro-Russian forces in BiH to continue with even greater destabilization of the country and blockades, ” noted the BiH Presidency member, Zeljko Komsic.
”It may sound tense to some, but the degree of pro-Russian political destruction in BiH is equal to that in Ukraine. In that sense, we cannot be comforted by the fact that they are not shooting at us if it is already clear that they are destroying the state and disavowing everything that would be beneficial for the state and all its citizens. That is why BiH and Ukraine in the package must get candidate status,” Komsic explained, Avaz writes.
He assessed that BiH suffers great economic consequences due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since there was a sharp increase in the prices of goods and basic necessities caused by the market shake, but that the political consequences are more significant.
The moves of Dodik and Covic
”To be honest, things are slowly crystallizing: the pro-Russian players gathered around the Milorad Dodik-Dragan Covic alliance have positioned themselves very clearly. Their policies towards Russia’s aggression against Ukraine have been exposedto the core by themselves. With the moves they are making, Dodik and Covic have clearly sided with Russia, which is neither news nor surprise,” Komsic stated.
Sanctions
Asked whether the West learned something from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and whether it finally realized that the key source of instability in this region is the Russian branch in the Balkans – Serbia and the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Komsic emphasized that this is best seen in the West’s anti-constitutional moves and the activities implemented by Milorad Dodik and the RS authorities.
”In the political sense, so far only the United States (U.S.) and the United Kingdom (UK) had specific measures, while Germany has started with sporadic economic sanctions. Sanctions imposed on Dodik are not enough. Namely, Dodik continues with his destabilizing policy and he will not stop,” told Komsic.
According to him, Dodik’s announcement of prolonging the adoption of the unconstitutional law in the National Assembly of RS (NARS), which takes over the state’s competencies in the field of defense and forms the RS Army, is just throwing dust in the eyes of some EU member states so as not to follow U.S. and UK sanctions.
”I have the impression that sometimes it is enough for Dodik to spread pure deception, which some from the EU accept with pleasure,” concluded Komsic.
E.Dz.