Denis Becirovic, the Bosniak member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency asked for “more strict” European Union's sanctions against Milorad Dodik, the president of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity, calling him a “dangerous politician” and warning that he is a threat to “independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus to the peace and stability.” The statement caused Dodik's swift reaction.

Speaking to representatives of the COWEB group, an EU working group in charge of the relations with the Western Balkans countries, Becirovic said that the EU should impose sanctions against Dodik, modeled after those imposed by the US and the UK.

Becirovic told the representatives of the EU body that Dodik is a dangerous politician, who is jeopardising the Dayton Peace Agreement and is threatening the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus the peace and stability.

“This is a politician who violates the Constitution of BiH, bringing into question the laws of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who does not respect the Constitutional Court of BiH, who is glorifying and decorating convicted war criminals, and who advocates the ‘Greater Serbia’ project, which was condemned by highest-level courts of the United Nations,” said Becirovic.

Unblocking the EU funds for the “separatist president of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity, who is openly carrying out an anti-state and anti-western policy would mean a very bad step of rewarding the anti-Dayton and anti-European policy,” he underlined.

Dodik promptly responded, saying that Becirovic is “dissolving BiH much better and more successfully than anyone.”

He assessed the call for sanctions as a “cry of powerlessness” in arguing with no ground with those who have different opinion.

“The civic consciousness demonstrated by Becirovic shows that it is completely irrelevant who the Bosniak member of the Presidency is. Everyone would like the others, and by force, to complete what they want. Bosniaks will soon not want such a BiH either,” Dodik tweeted in response to Becirovic.