Serb Leader Seeks Prosecution of Bosnian Presidency Chairman

Milorad Dodik said on Wednesday that he has filed a criminal complaint against Sefik Dzaferovic, the current chairman of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, for allegedly abusing his position "by participating in the summit of the international Crimea Platform, without authorisation and without a decision from the presidency".

Dodik, a pro-Russian politician, told a press conference that "due to the illegal and unauthorised actions of Dzeferovic, Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity Republika] Srpska was prevented from expressing its position through the Serb member of the presidency".

The Crimea Platform, organised by the Ukrainian authorities, discussed ways to restore Kyiv's control over the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

Dodik argued that Dzaferovic's speech to the Crimea Platform was a "self-initiated performance" for which he did not have the agreement of the tripartite presidency, which he said is against the presidency's procedural regulations and the Bosnian constitution.

"This is a clear example of how to make state institutions meaningless," Dodik said.

Dzaferovic told BIRN that instead of doing his job, Dodik is looking for excuses in the face of increasingly frequent criticism that he has not achieved anything while in office.

He described Dodik's attempt to encourage a criminal prosecution as "a frivolous, unfounded and failed initiative".

"Everything is known about the official position of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Ukraine and the obligation of the chairman to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina," Dzaferovic added.

Dodik meanwhile also vowed to paralyse state-level institutions, saying that from now on both he and Serb representatives in state-level institutions will not vote for any infrastructure...

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