The European Parliament held a discussion on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina tonight, focusing on secessionist threats, and ahead of the session, parliamentarian Tineke Strik, who initiated the discussion, said that it was necessary to impose sanctions on the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, for his illegal actions.
Ondrej Kolar, a representative of the Czech Republic, a member of the European People’s Party Group, said that he was surprised that there are people who think that “Russia is not the enemy and that we are not at war with Russia”.
“We are in a hybrid war with Russia, which is clearly being waged in the Balkans as well”, he warned.
He emphasized that the president of one entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina “often asks for Russia’s help, asks Russia to vote against the Dayton Agreement at the UN”, adding that we all know how things ended in Ukraine, “and now we have to send soldiers to Bosnia and Herzegovina to prevent a repeat of what I witnessed in the mid-90s as a boy”.
“If someone doesn’t understand that Russia wants to weaken us by doing this, that person is either for Russia or out of touch. I wouldn’t want us to have to send soldiers to BiH, I would like to send help to build infrastructure, and for that reason we want to go to BiH and see on the ground what the situation is and what the path to the EU is,” he emphasized.
Matjaž Nemec, a representative of Slovenia, warned that BiH deserves “the full attention of the international community, especially the EU, which has invested a lot of energy” in the country.
“The fact is that Milorad Dodik is carrying out separatist threats, his moves seriously endanger the territorial integrity and sovereignty of BiH, but also its European future,” said Nemec.
He believes that the solution for BiH lies in full membership in the EU, and not just in Dayton, and he told “friends in BiHW that this is the ultimate moment for political maturity.”
Tineke Strik, the initiator of the debate, was particularly harsh in her speech, saying that Dodik’s latest moves are a threat to the peace and integrity of BiH as well as its future in the EU.
“Dodik is not acting in the interests of the citizens or for their well-being. He is Putin’s puppet in the Balkans, ready to fulfill any demand from Moscow even if it means war,” she said in her address to parliamentarians.
“He is a criminal whose goal is to stay in power and enrich himself through corruption. The EU must impose sanctions on Dodik and his partners in crime, freeze foreign assets, ban entry, and if necessary even without Hungary, in order to protect the safety of citizens,” Strik emphasized,
N1 writes.
