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Bosnian-Serb separatist leader meets Putin in Moscow

Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik met in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, days after supporting Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine, Russian and Serb media reported.

During the rare visit by a European politician to Moscow, the Russian president praised his country’s “strategic partnership” with Serbia.

The visit came at a time of repeated warnings from the European Union for Serbia to align its foreign policies with the European bloc if it really wants to become a member.

Dodik, a Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, has met frequently with Russia’s president, especially ahead of elections, to show the highly pro-Russian Bosnian Serb electorate that he has Putin’s backing.

They had last met in June, months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Russia has often been accused by the West of trying to destabilize Bosnia and the rest of the Balkans through its proximity to Serbia and Bosnia.

Dodik has been openly advocating the separation of the Serbian-controlled half of Bosnia from the Bosnian-Croat federation and union with neighboring Serbia.

On the eve of his visit to Moscow, Dodik gave an interview to Russian state news agency TASS, where he repeated his separatist views and endorsed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Putin also sent a message today to Serbia and its populist president Aleksandar Vucic. Serbia is the only candidate nation to join the European Union that has refused to adhere to sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

“Russia and Serbia are linked by a strategic partnership. I regularly speak with President Vucic during face-to-face meetings and telephone conversations on key issues for development and cooperation,” Putin said, quoted by Serbian media.

Despite officially intending to join the European Union, Serbia has increasingly grown closer to Putin’s Russia during Vucic’s autocratic administration over the past 10 years.

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