The decision of the Court of Appeal of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which confirmed the verdict against the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, is a political attack on the entire Serbian people. This was stated by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council held in Belgrade, the Serbian official newspaper "Politika" reported.

"This decision was politically prepared in advance. Pressure was exerted on it by both parties in Sarajevo and individual international representatives, including those who openly threatened protests in the event of an acquittal," Vucic said.

According to him, the National Security Council unanimously condemned the decision of the Court of Appeal of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which confirmed Dodik's sentence - a year in prison and a six-year ban on political activity for ignoring the decisions of the High Representative of the international community, Christian Schmidt.

“Serbia does not accept this undemocratic, anti-civilizational and immoral judicial practice,” Vučić stressed. “This is perhaps the most dangerous moment for the entire region since 2008. Someone decided that they could ignore the will of the voters and punish political leaders for their opinions. We cannot remain indifferent when the interests of our people are at stake,” Vučić stressed.

The Serbian president noted that he had spoken with two world leaders who made it clear what reaction they expected from Serbia. “I said that I understand, but I emphasized that Serbia is a sovereign state and that we make decisions ourselves,” he stressed. “Serbia is a sovereign state. We have not participated in anything, we have not been informed about anything. But since we are talking about our people and our obligations under the Dayton Agreement, we are obliged to react,” Vučić stressed.

He added that if Dodik came to Serbia, no arrest warrant would be issued, saying the Bosnian Serb leader would “always be a welcome guest” in the country.

Dodik is the president of Republika Srpska, which is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) along with the Muslim-Croat federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. | BGNES