SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (AP) – Bosnian Serb leader said on Sunday that he hoped former US President Donald Trump would return to power and that Serbs would “wait for appropriate global circumstances” to achieve their goal of secession. from Bosnia, which he called an “unsustainable state.”
Milorad Dodik, a rare European official who has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of the war in Ukraine in late February, commented on a gathering marking the beginning of Bosnia’s bloody breakup 30 years ago.
Bosnia went through a devastating 1992-95 war that killed more than 100,000 people before a US-brokered peace agreement ended the conflict.
The peace agreement, also known as the Dayton Accords, created Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat entities linked together by joint Bosnian institutions and a tripartite presidency, of which Dodik is a member.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has raised fears that the turmoil could spread to the volatile Balkans, where Russia has a strong influence among Slavic Serbs.
Dodik, who leads a separatist initiative by Bosnian Serbs, said he was convinced Serbs would soon make important decisions about their fate in Bosnia. He also expressed the expectation that Trump would lead the United States again.
“For the first time in history, Serbs are waiting for time,” Dodik said. “We have to be patient, we have to understand the time. Europe is inevitably confused by its internal problems. I pray to God that Donald Trump comes to power in America again.
During his presidency, Trump rarely spoke out against continued attempts by Bosnian Serbs to destabilize Bosnia. After Joe Biden became president, Dodik received sanctions from the United States and Britain for his declared goal of dividing about half of Bosnia and annexing it to neighboring Serbia.
Dodik met with Putin in Russia earlier this month, saying on Sunday that he was proud of the meeting.
“He told me only one thing, and that was, ‘We’re not leaving our friends.’ “The Russians have not done us any harm,” Dodik said.
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