The Kremlin on Thursday condemned the one-year prison sentence handed down to Milorad Dodik on Wednesday, calling the criminal prosecution against him “political” and warning of “negative consequences” for the Balkans.
“Indeed, Putin has met with Dodik on numerous occasions. We greatly value the trust and constructive working relationship that has developed between Putin and Dodik. And, of course, we value our historical brotherly relations between Russians and Serbs. What happened in Sarajevo certainly provokes our negative reaction,” said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin.
“We condemn such actions because they could have very negative consequences for the situation not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) but also in the Balkans as a whole. These are actions that will and could lead to destabilization of the situation, which is very bad. We consider this kind of prosecution of Dodik to be entirely political in nature and aimed not only against Dodik personally but also, in fact, against all patriotic Serbian forces. This is also unacceptable. Based on the pseudo-law pushed through by the so-called High Representative Schmidt – let us not forget that the United Nations (UN) Security Council never approved him, so he is nothing more than a fraudster, therefore his move can hardly be seen as legitimate. Therefore, we condemn it.”
Finally, they called on everyone to “be guided by the spirit, ideas, and provisions of Dayton.”
“We believe that such actions could have disastrous consequences and we call on everyone, above all those behind the adoption of such disastrous decisions, to be guided by the spirit, ideas, and provisions of Dayton. Only that can stabilize the situation.
