23.09.2025.

“Another failed attempt” – How did Dodik’s trip to Moscow turn into a fiasco?

The former president of the Republic of Srpska is seeking salvation from Russian officials, but so far he has received a promise from Lavrov about “unpleasant questions” that, as it seems, no one in Bosnia and Herzegovina or in the West is afraid of.

We are aware that the West’s influence in the Balkans is in its final stages and that there is a danger that the Serbian people will fare even worse in these solutions. That is why it is important to discuss the details here, as this is a very rare opportunity for someone in the West to listen, Dodik said after meeting with Sergei Shoigu from the Russian Security Council, who said that they had discussed the complex situation in the RS.

For the referendum to succeed…

He also warned that anything that upsets our friends from the Republika Srpska entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina will have repercussions after the referendum, when the opinion of the people will be seen.

Russia continues to support the Dayton Peace Agreement. We will discuss this specifically on October 31, when Russia will chair the UN Security Council. We will prepare ourselves in detail. Our partners will have to answer some very uncomfortable questions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the day before.

International relations expert Luciano Kaluza believes that Russia is waiting for the results of the referendum in the RS.

With this referendum, Russia will insist on the conclusions of the Security Council. It is important to understand how important the messages we send from the RS are, so that they will be reflected in the Security Council’s decisions in the form in which Russia will present them, Kaluža told RTRS, adding that the aforementioned session will reveal the entire intentions of the political West regarding the issues and problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The announcement of “unpleasant questions” is nothing more than a threat and an attempt by Moscow to block the international community’s efforts to maintain peace and stability in our country and region. Lavrov clearly shows that the Kremlin is using Bosnia and Herzegovina as an instrument in its geopolitical conflict with the West, which directly threatens the sovereignty and Euro-Atlantic path of our country, emphasizes Saša Magazinović, leader of the SDP club in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Safet Kešo, an SDA member of parliament, believes that there is nothing new with which Russia could threaten Bosnia and Herzegovina or the West that it is not already doing.

We have heard clear messages from NATO leaders that they will not allow a security vacuum in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that there is a possibility of NATO forces arriving if the EUFOR mission is halted. So Russia and Dodik know this, and for them it is certainly a worse option. And that is why they have not yet resorted to using their veto to halt the EUFOR mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković, adding that the talks he has with European leaders are sometimes not intended for public consumption, but that it is quite clear that even among the permanent members of the UN Security Council there are those who would prevent any Russian destruction.

Foreign policy analyst Jahja Muhasilović tells us that Russia has long had a problematic relationship with BiH, partly because of its ties to Dodik and Serbian politics in BiH.

They will probably try to challenge the mandate of the Office of the High Representative in BiH through the UN Security Council. However, this is not the right address, as the Office of the High Representative is an integral part of the Dayton Agreement, which Russia also signed. BiH has a majority in the Security Council, and Russia can only act there with China, but they cannot do anything more concrete. This will probably be another unsuccessful attempt by Russia, he believes./Oslobodjenje.ba/