The leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, arrived in Moscow on Thursday, where on May 9 he will attend Victory Day, the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
He is attending at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. At Sheremetyevo Airport, Dodik was received by the Deputy Director of the Department for State Protocol at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Milyaev, the SRNA news agency reported.
In the evening, Dodik will attend a dinner in the Kremlin, hosted by Putin for international officials who have traveled to Moscow to participate in Victory Day celebrations.
The day before, the chairman of the People's Assembly of the Bosnian Serb entity, Lista Srpska, Nenad Stevandic, arrived in Moscow, and today he is expected to meet with the deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament), Konstantin Kosachev.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued national arrest warrants for Dodik, Stevandic, and the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković.
However, these two officials have traveled abroad before, and Dodik, since the arrest warrant was issued, has already visited Moscow once and met with Putin.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić arrived in Moscow on May 7th, and is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin on May 9th, the Kremlin announced.
Vučić made his decision to participate in the Victory Day parade on May 9 public in early March, after a phone conversation with Putin. The announcements about the Serbian president's possible visit to Russia have also prompted reactions from European institutions.
European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, stated in a press conference on April 29 that "it is up to the Serbian president to decide whether to travel to Moscow," but added that if Vučić makes this visit, it will be "much more difficult to help Serbia stay firmly on the European path."
Among European leaders, in addition to Vučić, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, known for his pro-Kremlin stances, has also confirmed his participation in this event. The President of China, Xi Jinping, has also arrived in Russia./ REL
(BalkanWeb)
