Dodik’s statement came after he, on the occasion of the celebration of “Republic Day” on January 9, decided to present a medal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Kirilich called what was happening “a reward from a terrorist to all ‘other”.
Dodik’s decision has been met with criticism in the European Union, he notes eunews. In particular, the EU Foreign Minister’s press secretary Peter Stano stressed that “the whole world knows who Putin is”. (In February 2022, the head of the Kremlin announced the invasion of Ukraine).
On January 11, the situation with Dodik and the “undesirable person” Kirilich commented on Facebook, the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko.
“This “news” deserves none of our attention. But since some abroad are trying to present it as something that supposedly has consequences, they are forced to explain that this so-called decision is insignificant. Ukraine does not have an ambassador in the so-called Republika Srpska Vasily Kirilich is accredited as Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina with residence in Zagreb,” he wrote.
The Ukrainian diplomat stressed that the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina assumes that foreign policy powers are the exclusive competence of the country’s presidium.
“Milorad Dodik has no authority to make such decisions, and his statement should only be seen as a ridiculous attempt to justify his populist decisions to please the Kremlin,” Nikolenko explained.
Dodik is known for pro-Russian and separatist statements, in particular about the “Russian” Crimea..
In January 2017, he announced that Bosnian Serbs should secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina and create a single state with Serbia and the Serb territories in Kosovo. In his opinion, Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state no development prospects.
