Latest news with #EUFOR
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bosnian Serb leader Dodik's journey from Western darling to pro-Russian separatist
By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) - When a court sentenced Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik to jail last month for defying the order of an international peace envoy, Moscow rushed to his defence, publicly calling the move "unacceptable" and "politically motivated". Buoyed by the support, Dodik barred the state's authorities from the Serb region of Bosnia. On Thursday, a Bosnian court said it had issued an international arrest warrant for Dodik, who is accused of attacking the constitutional order and has gone abroad in defiance of an earlier internal arrest warrant. He had crossed into neighbouring Serbia earlier this week then travelled to Israel for an antisemitism conference in Jerusalem. In nearly three decades in top government jobs in Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic, Dodik, 66, has shaped the national political agenda and - according to his critics - deepened ethnic divides between Christian Serbs and Croats and Muslim Bosniaks. In a speech to the region's parliament on March 13, he dared state police to come and detain him - a move that many fear would lead to clashes with the local, loyalist forces. "Come on, try and arrest us," he shouted. The statement marked a new low point in relations between Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic and state authorities and raised fears that the Balkan country might slip back into the kind of ethnic tensions that led to war in the 1990s. Amid the tension, the EU added hundreds of troops to its EUFOR peace force, deployed in Bosnia in 2004 to replace thousands of NATO troops. It also highlighted the complete turnaround for Dodik, from a moderate backed by the West to replace wartime nationalists to a pro-Russian separatist threatening the entire integrity of the Bosnian state. EARLY REFORMER A burly basketball fan, Dodik was the first Serb politician to recognise the massacre of about 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war as genocide. Early in his career, which began in a pro-reform movement just before the collapse of former Yugoslavia, the Belgrade University graduate condemned war criminals and was in opposition to ruling Serb nationalists in their wartime parliament. Initially, Dodik was a "fresh breeze" in Bosnian politics, someone who understood the influence of international players and courted them, said Sead Turcalo, a political science lecturer at Sarajevo University. After the U.S.-sponsored Dayton peace accords ended the war, the West was looking for a new Serb leader as an alternative to the nationalists, many of whom were indicted for war crimes. Dodik appeared to fit the bill. With Western backing in 1998 he became the prime minister of the Serb Republic, which makes up postwar Bosnia along with the Bosniak-Croat Federation, even though his party had only two seats in the regional parliament. But after a lost election in 2001, Dodik began embracing nationalist rhetoric dear to Serbs. He returned to power in 2006. DRAMATIC CHANGE His stance on the war changed dramatically. He denied the Srebrenica genocide ever took place and played down Serbian war crimes in Bosnia, welcoming those convicted for them and later released from jail as heroes. In 2016, Dodik opened a student dormitory named after Radovan Karadzic, the first Serb leader who was jailed for life for genocide and war crimes. "Over the years, as it suited him politically... he transformed into an ultra-nationalist and separatist," Turcalo said. In all, Dodik has served three terms as the region's prime minister and three terms as its president. In that time, his politics became increasingly nationalistic and pro-Russian. For 10 years, he has called for secession from Bosnia and unification with Serbia. He was twice officially accused of abuse of office and even indicted for money laundering with a group of close allies, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. The United States has imposed a series of sanctions against him for violating the terms of the peace deal and corruption, which he denies. He was also sanctioned by Britain for undermining the peace and stability in Bosnia. ARMED CONFRONTATION? Dodik responded to the jail sentence handed to him in February by ordering the adoption of laws that bar the state judiciary and police from operating in the Serb region. Bosnia's constitutional court suspended the legislation and called it an attack on the constitutional order. Dodik and two of his close aides then ignored a summons by state prosecutors investigating an alleged undermining of the constitution. As a result, the state court issued a warrant for his arrest and ordered police agencies to apprehend them. Security experts say that Dodik's arrest must be carefully planned to avoid armed confrontation with the Serb Republic police, which have pledged to protect him and his aides. How it plays out for Dodik now is unclear. He hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump will be more sympathetic to his separatism. But support among ordinary Serbs appears to be dwindling, with almost none heeding his calls to leave their jobs in state institutions.
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Ignored by Trump and menaced by Putin, the UK turns to the EU for defensive ties
Donald Trump's isolationism and Vladimir Putin's menace leaves post-Brexit Britain in a delicate position. While the combination of US disengagement from Europe and the reality of Russian aggression has forced a reappraisal of security across the continent, Britain's half in, half out status makes for complications. Prime minister Keir Starmer wanted to showcase Britain's credentials as a European military leader on Thursday, first with a visit to the Barrow shipyard where nuclear submarines are built and then to look into a meeting of 30-plus military chiefs, mostly from Europe, as they discuss how to create a post-war stabilisation force for Ukraine. Yet the message was somewhat undermined by the EU's announcement a day earlier that it would set up a €150bn defence investment lending scheme, from which the UK (and the US) would simply be excluded, because it is not a member and does not have an associate or special status like Norway or Ukraine. In reality, the apparent bar is not quite so serious, as long as the two sides agree a defence and security pact soon. Labour has been pushing for a defence treaty with the bloc since before the election, and the hope is that negotiations will conclude in time for an EU-UK summit in May, which would give the UK partial access to the scheme. The initial EU proposal – pushed hard by France, despite close Anglo-French working over the Ukraine stabilisation force – is that British manufacturers will then only be able to access 35% of the money available. That proportion is not set, however, and a successful negotiation may see an increase for the UK, or some other exception. It will be a test for Labour, which has brought some sanity to the UK's relationship with the EU but not otherwise sought to redraw the post-Brexit settlement. Under the Conservatives, the UK military pulled out of missions like the EU's EUFOR peacekeeping mission in Bosnia amid fears that British soldiers would have to wear an operational badge with an EU flag on. A key element of Labour's forthcoming defence review was always going to be developing the arms industry to promote economic growth, even before the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, declared last month that Washington was no longer 'primarily focused' on defending Europe and Trump began his telephone diplomacy with Putin, with the two men discussing the fate of Ukraine. The numbers working in defence are not necessarily large – 147,500 according to the ADS trade body – but 70% of defence jobs are outside London and the south east. Manufacturing sites also make a critical contribution to local economies, in shipyards like Barrow or Rosyth on the Forth in Scotland, or at airfields such as Warton and Samlesbury in Lancashire, and trade unions heavily invested in their success. But the events of last month have given the European defence effort a far greater urgency. Though Britain has always split its procurement between the UK, US and partners in Europe, the sight of Trump stopping military aid to Ukraine and halting intelligence sharing with almost no notice has not been attractive. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion High tech US weapons given to Ukraine such as the Himars rocket launcher or the F-16 fighter jet appear to have lost key elements of functionality. In the alarm that followed, the makers of the US F-35 jet were even forced to put out a statement saying 'there is no kill switch' that the US could operate remotely at a moment's notice, though a more realistic concern is that without continuing US logistics and software support, an F-35 would become unusable quickly. The history of Anglo-American military cooperation is so long and deep that it hard to imagine it falling apart in a crisis even with Trump in the White House. But long term military planning is also about contingency and what Britain needs is to deepen its security and defence industrial relationship with Europe not as an alternative but in parallel with its relationship with the US.
Voice of America
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
Constitutional crisis shakes Bosnia
The national assembly of Bosnia's Serb-controlled Republika Srpska on Thursday adopted the draft of the new Republic Constitution, introduced by the autonomous republic's president, Milorad Dodik, that includes articles that violate Bosnia's constitution. Bosnian state prosecutors on Wednesday had ordered the arrest of Dodik and his aides for ignoring a court summons for allegedly trying to undermine Bosnia's constitution. Republika Srpska is an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Last month, a Bosnian court sentenced Dodik to one year in prison and banned him from politics for six years over his separatist activities and for defying decisions by the international High Representative that oversees the 1995 Dayton Accords. That agreement ended an ethnically rooted war that lasted more than three years and killed 100,000 people. Dodik rejected the arrest warrant, telling journalists in the regional capital, Banja Luka, on Wednesday that it was politically motivated and that he would ask Russia to veto an extension of the presence of EUFOR, the European Union's peacekeeping force in Bosnia, at the U.N. Security Council. In an interview Thursday with VOA's Bosnian Service, Dodik's lawyer, Anto Nobilo, said Dodik does not recognize either the Bosnian court or state prosecutor's office, and thus does not need legal defense. "I do not believe there will be Dodik's arrest," Nobilo said. "Mr. Dodik will not cooperate, or name his defense team, because he does not consider the proceedings legitimate. ... Bosnia needs this situation defused immediately. This is a huge constitutional and legal and political crisis and has to be resolved politically." Nenad Stevandic, president of Republika Srpska's national assembly and a close ally of Dodik, denounced the moves against the Serb-controlled autonomous republic as an attack on the constitutional order. "We are absolutely right," he said Wednesday. "However, to be right in Bosnia and Herzegovina means to be persecuted." Meanwhile, in Washington, three members of the U.S. Senate — Chuck Grassley, Jeanne Shaheen and Jim Risch — led a group of nine other members of the U.S. Congress in calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent further deterioration in Bosnia. "We are deeply concerned about the recent actions of Milorad Dodik, the leader of the Republika Srpska entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina," they wrote in a letter to Rubio. "For years, he has engaged in secessionist activity, challenging Bosnia and Herzegovina's state institutions, undermining the constitution and threatening the territorial integrity of the country." The U.S. imposed sanctions on Dodik and his "patronage network" in 2023 and again in January of this year. Asked by VOA while en route Monday to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, if the U.S. was considering "any punitive action against Dodik," Rubio said the Trump administration did not want to see a partition of Bosnia. "The last thing the world needs is another crisis, and we've spoken out about that already," he said. "As far as what we maybe do next, we're reviewing those options. But it's been abundantly clear that whatever differences may exist internally there, this cannot lead to a country breaking apart, and it cannot lead to another conflict." Experts say the actions of Dodik and the Republika Srpska national assembly have precipitated Bosnia's most serious constitutional crisis since 1995. "First of all, it is a reflection of [Dodik's] disrespect for fundamental state institutions, meaning, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and all those fundamental postulates on which the constitutional-legal order rests," Milos Davidovic, professor of law at the University of Sarajevo, told VOA's Bosnian Service. Ahmed Kico, a political and security expert, told VOA the actions of Dodik and the Republika Srpska national assembly were among "hybrid operations … realized at the behest of the Russian Federation and Serbia … therefore, it is a really dangerous situation where they are trying to show and prove that Bosnia and Herzegovina's survival is not possible as a democratic state." Amid the growing crisis, additional European peacekeepers arrived in Bosnia on Wednesday to bolster those of EUFOR.
Euronews
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Additional EUFOR peacekeeper troops arrive in Bosnia amid tensions
The EU announced plans to send peacekeepers to Bosnia after the nation's top court suspended laws adopted by its ethnic Serb regional entity. ADVERTISEMENT Reserve peacekeepers arrived in Bosnia on Wednesday amid rising tensions in the country, a day after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reaffirmed support for the country's territorial integrity and peace. Italian and Czech military personnel touched down at Sarajevo airport and were greeted by the EU force in Bosnia, known as EUFOR. Romanian troops, helicopters and military supplies will arrive in the coming days. Rutte had pledged NATO's 'unwavering' support for Bosnia's territorial integrity after a series of Bosnian Serb moves raised tensions nearly 30 years after the end of a bloody war. The president of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Serb-majority entity of the Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, introduced new laws meant to ban the operation of state-level security and judicial institutions in what comprises about half of the Western Balkan country's territory. Bosnia's state-level prosecutors issued arrest warrants on Wednesday for three top Bosnian Serb officials – including Dodik. Dodik, who has previously said he does not recognise the country's state-level prosecutor's office, has rejected the warrant's validity and any attempts at his arrest, and said he will not go to Sarajevo for questioning. His acts, which were previously adopted by the RS' National Assembly, came in response to the first-instance verdict by the state-level Court of BiH against Dodik issued on 26 February, causing a major political crisis in the EU membership hopeful. The Sarajevo-based court sentenced the Bosnian Serb leader to one year in prison and barred him from politics for six years for going against the decisions of the international community's peace envoy, German diplomat Christian Schmidt, which constitutes a criminal act. The verdict is not final, and Dodik can appeal it. In Bosnia, the High Representative acts as the chief arbiter in high-profile disputes and the key figure overseeing the implementation of the Dayton Agreement, signed in 1995 to stop the war in the country.
Washington Post
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
NATO chief vows 'unwavering' support for Bosnia's integrity after Serb separatist actions
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — NATO's secretary general on Monday pledged the military alliance's 'unwavering' support for Bosnia's territorial integrity after a series of Bosnian Serb separatist moves raised tensions nearly 30 years after the end of a bloody war. Mark Rutte spoke in Sarajevo after meeting the three members of the Balkan country's multi-ethnic presidency, an institution established in a peace accord that ended the 1992-95 conflict among the Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats after more than 100,000 people died. 'Three decades after the Dayton Peace Agreement, I can tell you: NATO remains firmly committed to the stability of this region and to the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina,' Rutte said. 'We will not allow hard-won peace to be jeopardized.' Rutte called any actions that undermine the accord, the constitutional order or national institutions 'unacceptable,' and added: 'Inflammatory rhetoric and actions are dangerous. They pose a direct threat to Bosnia and Herzegovina's stability and security.' His comments came days after Bosnian Serb lawmakers passed laws that barred Bosnia's central judicial authorities and its police from operating on the territory of Republika Srpska, a Serb-run entity in Bosnia that encompasses about half the country. The other entity is a federation run by Bosniaks, who are mainly Muslims, and Croats. The Bosnian Serb move was in response to the sentencing last month of the entity's pro-Russia President Milorad Dodik , a longtime advocate of Bosnia's disintegration. He was convicted of disobeying the top international envoy overseeing peace in the country. Dodik, a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump who has faced U.S. and British sanctions for his separatist actions, has rejected the sentence — a year in prison and a six-year ban from state office — calling it anti-Serb. The U.S. and key European nations have condemned Dodik's actions, while Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed 'solidarity.' The situation has sparked fears of incidents between Bosnian and Serb-dominated police similar to ones at the start of the war. The war in Bosnia began when the country's Serbs rebelled against independence from the former Yugoslavia and moved to form a mini-state with the aim of uniting it with Serbia. 'I have concerns about the security situation.' Rutte said, adding: 'Let's be clear, this is not 1992 and we will not allow a security vacuum to emerge.' A European peacekeeping force in Bosnia, EUFOR, has said it was stepping up the number of its troops in response to the tensions. The Serb member of Bosnia's presidency, Zeljka Cvijanovic, said after the meeting with Rutte that it was wrong to 'put the blame on one side only.' Denis Becirovic, the Bosniak presidency member, described the Serb moves as a 'brutal attack on the constitutional order.' 'Destabilization of this part of Europe would only benefit Moscow,' Becirovic said.
