Russia says Dodik court ruling threatens Bosnia's unity
SARAJEVO (Reuters) -Russia on Thursday said that a Bosnian court ruling banning the separatist Bosnian Serb president from political office for defying orders from the international peace envoy has put Bosnia and Herzegovina's existence as a united country at risk.
Bosnia's election commission on Wednesday decided to remove Milorad Dodik from office after an appeals court last week upheld a verdict jailing him for a year and banning him from politics for six years.
Dodik is a pro-Russian nationalist with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin who has long advocated secession of the Serb-dominated region from Bosnia and has often acted to block Bosnia's integration into the European Union and NATO.
In response to the court ruling, the Russian embassy said the "politicised verdict" was brought under the pressure of Western countries which used law-making agencies to "destroy their opponents".
"Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot afford to make a historic mistake," the embassy said in a statement. "Has its reputation of the 'European powder keg' been forgotten...?
"Because not only the place of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 'democratic European family' is at stake ... Indeed, the existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a united country is at stake," the embassy said.
In the U.N. Security Council in 2021, Russia and China blocked the endorsement of Christian Schmidt, a former government minister from Germany, as international High Representative in Bosnia with a mandate to prevent multi-ethnic Bosnia sliding back into civil war.
The Bosnian Serb nationalists have never recognised Schmidt as a legal envoy nor respected his decisions.
Dodik dismissed his conviction by the court in February. On Wednesday, he announced a referendum on whether he should stay in office and accused Schmidt and Muslims (Bosniaks) of conspiring to bring him down.
Russia called on the Bosnian authorities to dismiss the "outside dictate" and work to reduce tensions.
"If the situation steps out of control, they will bear the responsibility," the embassy said. "The moment of truth for Bosnia and Herzegovina has come because after this a point of no return may follow."
Bosnia is in its worst political crisis since the 1992-95 war, which killed around 100,000 people. The 1995 Dayton peace treaty divided Bosnia into autonomous Serb and Bosniak-Croat federal entities with a weak central government.
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What to know about the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska
The U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska is happening at a site where East meets West — quite literally — in a place familiar to both countries as a Cold War front line of missile defense, radar outposts and intelligence gathering. Whether it can lead to a deal to produce peace in Ukraine more than 3 1/2 years after Moscow's invasion remains to be seen. Here's what to know about the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, the first summit in four years: When and where is it taking place? The summit will take place Friday in Alaska, although where in the state is still unknown. It will be Putin's first trip to the United States since 2015, for the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Since the U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court, which in 2023 issued a warrant for Putin on war crimes accusations, it is under no obligation to arrest him. Is Zelenskyy going? 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Zelenskyy said Saturday that 'Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.' But Trump said Monday: 'There'll be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody. To the good, for the good of Ukraine. Good stuff, not bad stuff. Also, some bad stuff for both.' What are expectations? Putin sees a meeting with Trump as a chance to cement Russia's territorial gains, keep Ukraine out of NATO and prevent it from hosting any Western troops so Moscow can gradually pull the country back into its orbit. He believes time is on his side as Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances along the front line amid swarms of Moscow's missiles and drones battering the country. The meeting is a diplomatic coup for Putin, isolated since the invasion. The Kremlin sought to portray renewed U.S. contacts as two superpowers looking to resolve various global problems, with Ukraine being just one. 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Los Angeles Times
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Going online in Russia can be frustrating, complicated and even dangerous
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They also are threatening to go after the popular WhatsApp platform while rolling out a new 'national' messaging app that's widely expected to be heavily monitored. President Vladimir Putin urged the government to 'stifle' foreign internet services and ordered officials to assemble a list of platforms from 'unfriendly' states that should be restricted. Experts and rights advocates told The Associated Press that the scale and effectiveness of the restrictions are alarming. Authorities seem more adept at it now, compared with previous, largely futile efforts to restrict online activities, and they're edging closer to isolating the internet in Russia. Human Rights Watch researcher Anastasiia Kruope describes Moscow's approach to reining in the internet as 'death by a thousand cuts.' 'Bit by bit, you're trying to come to a point where everything is controlled.' Kremlin efforts to control what Russians do, read or say online dates to 2011-12, when the internet was used to challenge authority. Independent media outlets bloomed, and anti-government demonstrations that were coordinated online erupted after disputed parliamentary elections and Putin's decision to run again for president. Russia began adopting regulations tightening internet controls. Some blocked websites; others required providers to store call records and messages, sharing it with security services if needed, and install equipment allowing authorities to control and cut off traffic. Companies like Google or Facebook were pressured to store user data on Russian servers, to no avail, and plans were announced for a 'sovereign internet' that could be cut off from the rest of the world. Russia's popular Facebook-like social media platform VK, founded by Pavel Durov long before he launched the Telegram messaging app, came under the control of Kremlin-friendly companies. Russia tried to block Telegram between 2018-20 but failed. Prosecutions for social media posts and comments became common, showing that authorities were closely watching the online space. Still, experts had dismissed Kremlin efforts to rein in the internet as futile, arguing Russia was far from building something akin to China's 'Great Firewall,' which Beijing uses to block foreign websites. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government blocked major social media like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as Signal and a few other messaging apps. VPNs also were targeted, making it harder to reach restricted websites. YouTube access was disrupted last summer in what experts called deliberate throttling by authorities. The Kremlin blamed YouTube owner Google for not maintaining its hardware in Russia. The platform has been wildly popular in Russia, both for entertainment and for voices critical of the Kremlin, like the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. 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Government media and internet regulator Roskomnadzor uses more sophisticated methods, analyzing all web traffic and identifying what it can block or choke off, Darbinyan said. It's been helped by 'years of perfecting the technology, years of taking over and understanding the architecture of the internet and the players,' as well as Western sanctions and companies leaving the Russian market since 2022, said Kruope of Human Rights Watch. Russia is 'not there yet' in isolating its internet from the rest of the world, Darbinyan said, but Kremlin efforts are 'bringing it closer.' Litvinova writes for the Associated Press.
Associated Press
18 minutes ago
- Associated Press
What to know about the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska
The U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska is happening at a site where East meets West — quite literally — in a place familiar to both countries as a Cold War front line of missile defense, radar outposts and intelligence gathering. Whether it can lead to a deal to produce peace in Ukraine more than 3 1/2 years after Moscow's invasion remains to be seen. Here's what to know about the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, the first summit in four years: When and where is it taking place? The summit will take place Friday in Alaska, although where in the state is still unknown. It will be Putin's first trip to the United States since 2015, for the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Since the U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court, which in 2023 issued a warrant for Putin on war crimes accusations, it is under no obligation to arrest him. Is Zelenskyy going? Both countries confirmed a meeting between only Putin and Trump, even though there were initial suggestions that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might be part of it. But the Kremlin has long pushed back against Putin meeting Zelenskyy -– at least until a peace deal is reached by Russia and Ukraine and was ready to be signed. Putin said last week he wasn't against meeting Zelenskyy 'but certain conditions need to be created' for it to happen and were 'still a long way off.' That raised fears about excluding Ukraine from negotiations. Ukrainian officials last week talked with European allies, who stressed that peace cannot be achieved without Kyiv's involvement. What's Alaska's role in Russian history? It will be the first visit by a Russian leader to Alaska, even though it was part of the czarist empire until 1867, the state news agency Tass said. Alaska was colonized by Russia starting from the 18th century until Czar Alexander II sold it to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million. When it was found to contain vast resources, it was seen as a naïve deal that generated remorse and self-reproach. After the USSR's collapse, Alaska was a subject of nostalgia and jokes for Russians. One popular song in the 1990s went: 'Don't play the fool, America … give back our dear Alaska land.' Sam Greene of King's College London said on X the symbolism of Alaska as the site of a summit about Ukraine was 'horrendous — as though designed to demonstrate that borders can change, land can be bought and sold.' What's the agenda? Trump has appeared increasingly exasperated with Putin over Russia's refusal to halt the bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Kyiv has agreed to a ceasefire, insisting on a truce as a first step toward peace. Moscow presented ceasefire conditions that are nonstarters for Zelenskyy, such as withdrawing troops from the four regions Russia illegally annexed in 2022, halting mobilization efforts, or freezing Western arms deliveries. For a broader peace, Putin demands Kyiv cede the annexed regions, even though Russia doesn't fully control them, and Crimea, renounce a bid to join NATO, limit the size of its armed forces and recognize Russian as an official language along with Ukrainian. Zelenskyy insists any peace deals must include robust security guarantees for Ukraine to protect it from future Russian aggression. Putin has warned Ukraine it will face tougher conditions for peace as Russian troops forge into other regions to build what he described as a 'buffer zone.' Some observers suggested Russia could trade those recent gains for territory still under Ukrainian control in the four annexed regions annexed by Moscow. Zelenskyy said Saturday that 'Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.' But Trump said Monday: 'There'll be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody. To the good, for the good of Ukraine. Good stuff, not bad stuff. Also, some bad stuff for both.' What are expectations? Putin sees a meeting with Trump as a chance to cement Russia's territorial gains, keep Ukraine out of NATO and prevent it from hosting any Western troops so Moscow can gradually pull the country back into its orbit. He believes time is on his side as Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances along the front line amid swarms of Moscow's missiles and drones battering the country. The meeting is a diplomatic coup for Putin, isolated since the invasion. The Kremlin sought to portray renewed U.S. contacts as two superpowers looking to resolve various global problems, with Ukraine being just one. Ukraine and its European allies are concerned a summit without Kyiv could allow Putin to get Trump on his side and force Ukraine into concessions. 'Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace,' Zelenskyy said. 'They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work.' European officials echoed that. 'As we work towards a sustainable and just peace, international law is clear: All temporarily occupied territories belong to Ukraine,' European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. 'A sustainable peace also means that aggression cannot be rewarded.' NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Sunday he believed Trump was 'making sure that Putin is serious, and if he is not, then it will stop there.' 'If he is serious, then from Friday onwards, the process will continue. Ukraine getting involved, the Europeans being involved,' Rutte added. Since last week, Putin spoke to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as well as the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, the Kremlin said. That suggested Putin perhaps wanted to brief Russia's most important allies about a potential settlement, said pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov. —- Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.
