The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister in Banja Luka says that Moscow will defend the interests of the Republika Srpska and the Dayton Agreement
Russia will defend the interests of Republika Srpska and the Dayton Peace Agreement, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, who met with officials of this entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Banja Luka on April 21.
He accused Western countries, “especially Berlin and London, of wanting to strip Serbs of their constitutional powers and take control.”
“Sanctions cannot affect our bilateral relations, and we will continue implementing our cooperation through an agreed agenda,” Grushko said at a press conference, also criticizing the institution of the High Representative in BiH.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has joined EU sanctions against Russia, but their implementation is opposed by representatives of the RS government, led by Milorad Dodik, president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats.
Grushko is the first Russian official of this rank to visit Republika Srpska since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The EU and the US Embassy in BiH did not respond to requests by Radio Free Europe for comment on the announced visit.
Milorad Dodik said he “supports Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine and that Republika Srpska will not allow sanctions against Russia to be imposed.”
Russia launched its attack on Ukraine in 2022, under the pretext of conducting a “special military operation” rather than a war against a neighboring independent country, part of whose territory it had annexed.
“If the issue of property arises, the RS will have to make its own decision on it, and it will be that we do not accept it and that we are ready for independent development,” Dodik said.
In 2006, the High Representative in BiH excluded military property from the decision on state property, in order for it to be immediately registered to the state.
The BiH Defense Law determined that the State Ministry of Defense would take ownership of property needed for the functioning of the Armed Forces as of January 1, 2006.
The Presidency of BiH, as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, through several decisions defined the plan, structure, and locations of the Armed Forces, and compiled a list of 63 potential military property sites. This number was later reduced to 57.
Former Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) and then RS President Milorad Dodik leaving a press conference in Banja Luka on September 21, 2018.
High-ranking Russian officials rarely visit Banja Luka, the largest city and administrative center of RS.
Visits are mostly at city level, such as representatives of the Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Interior for Moscow visiting the RS Ministry of Interior in November last year.
Banja Luka is also frequently visited by Russian education and healthcare representatives, who stay at the University of Banja Luka or the University Clinical Center.
In the last 10 years, high-ranking Russian officials have visited RS only three times.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last visited BiH in December 2020. At that time, he was on an official visit to Sarajevo, and later also visited East Sarajevo.
Two years earlier, after visiting Sarajevo, Lavrov stayed in Banja Luka and visited the construction site of a Serbo-Russian temple and cultural center.
A few months before him, Valentina Matviyenko, President of the Federation Council of Russia (the upper house of parliament), was in Banja Luka.
She then stated that this entity is a “brotherly land of Russia” and that Moscow opposes NATO expansion in Europe.
