Bosnian Serb Leader Milorad Dodik Threatens to Cut Ties with US and UK Diplomats

Milorad Dodik, the leader of Bosnian Serbs, has warned that he might sever communications with US and UK diplomats and embassies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, accusing them of interfering in the country’s internal affairs. Dodik’s press office issued a statement stating that a team has been formed to gather information about alleged anti-Dayton activities of US and UK diplomats and embassies.

It also mentioned that Republika Srpska, the entity led by Dodik, will decide on this matter within a week. The Dayton Agreement of 1995, which established a system of governance in Bosnia dividing it into a Serbian entity and a Bosniak-Croat federation connected by a weak central government, was also mentioned in the statement.

The US and British Embassies in Sarajevo rejected the allegations, calling them unhelpful and factually inaccurate. They reiterated their commitment to stand with all the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina as they work towards a stronger country and their rightful place in the Euro-Atlantic community of nations. The British Embassy statement called the allegations a bizarre attempt to divert attention from real problems and rejected them completely.

Dodik has faced multiple rounds of sanctions by the US and Britain due to alleged corruption and destabilization efforts. He has also long threatened to seek independence for Republika Srpska and rejects the administrative arrangement and authority of the Office of the High Representative. Recently, his denial of genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian civil war and the massacre of 8,000 men and boys at Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia in 1995 has also sparked controversy.

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