Bosnia’s Serb Republic appoints interim president, seals Dodik’s departure from post
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – The parliament of the Bosnian Serb Republic appointed Ana Trisic Babic as interim president on Saturday, acknowledging that former President Milorad Dodik had officially left office for the first time after a state court barred him from politics.
Dodik’s close ally, Trisic Babic, will remain in office for a month until new presidential elections in Republika Srpska are held on 23 November.
The parliament also annulled a series of separatist laws adopted last year after Dodik was accused of defying the decisions of the international envoy and the constitutional court.
Dodik, a pro-Russian nationalist who wants the Republika Srpska to secede and join Serbia, has so far refused to resign and has continued to fulfill his duties as president and travel abroad. He is appealing the state court’s decision to the constitutional court.
Dodik said that despite Saturday’s parliamentary vote, Republika Srpska will not change its policies and that its ultimate goal is secession. However, Dodik said that this move should be made in coordination with foreign partners.
The US State Department welcomed Saturday’s move, saying it was the result of US-led efforts “to defuse the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
“The United States welcomes today’s action by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (RSNA) confirming stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This action will also chart a course for a constructive partnership with the United States based on mutual interests, economic potential and shared prosperity,” State Department Senior Bureau Official for European and Eurasian Affairs Brendan Hanrahan told Reuters. he said.
The US Treasury Department said on Friday it had removed four Dodik allies from its sanctions list, a move praised by Dodik, who has been campaigning to have US sanctions against him lifted.
He has been sanctioned by the United States and Britain for blocking the terms of the Dayton peace agreement that ended the war in Bosnia in the 1990s, as well as by many European countries that say his separatist policies endanger peace and stability in Bosnia.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Writing by Renee Maltezou, Editing by Franklin Paul and Sergio Non)
