The Bosnian Croat member of BiH’s tripartite Presidency, Zeljko Komsic, urged on Friday his Bosnian Serb colleague and Chairman of the institution, Milorad Dodik, to reveal how he obtained the gilded Ukrainian icon which he gave Russia’s Foreign Affairs Minister as a gift on Monday, causing an international diplomatic scandal.
Russia’s Sergey Lavrov received the 300-year-old gilded icon during his visit to Bosnia from Dodik on Monday.
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However, the icon appears to be from Luhansk, Ukraine, as it has a seal proving its originality, as shown in the photo published by the SRNA news agency.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Sarajevo has already sent a note to the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for detailed information on the origin of what it suspects is a piece of Ukrainian cultural heritage.
Bosnia's Prosecutor's Office said on Friday that it formed a case regarding the matter.
“I call upon Mr. Dodik to reveal to the public who gave him the stolen icon!” Kosmic said.
“If it’s true that (the icon) is from Ukraine and that it was brought to Banja Luka during the war in Ukraine – in other words, that it was stolen – then somebody has to go to jail if we are trying to be a real country,” he said.
“The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Dodik, should reveal where he got that from, who gave it to him, who set him up,” he insisted, adding that the case would end up being investigated in every normal country.
“This must end up at court, someone must go to prison if it’s true,” he said.
