Emboldened by Moscow and Belgrade, Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serbs leader in Bosnia-Herzegovina, followed on his October announcement that Republika Srpska (Serb Republic) would start withdrawing from shared state institutions, including the army, judiciary, tax system and security services (RTV, December 10). On December 10, the Serb entity’s national assembly voted to begin the process, which, if permitted to proceed, could result not only in the breakup of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a state but also trigger a new Balkan war. The previous week, Dodik visited Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure the Kremlin’s political support for Republika Srpska’s eventual secession (Kommersant, December 2; TASS, December 3). The Russian ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Igor Kalabukhov, said last month that he saw no problem with Milorad Dodik’s idea of an independent Republika Srpska within Bosnia-Herzegovina (B92, November 11).
Widening Cracks in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Dodik’s Russian Mission – Jamestown
