Serb member of Bosnia's three-member Presidency Milorad Dodik denied being under the influence of Russia, adding that there was nothing secret about his recent talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Dodik's statement came as a response to the questions by the members of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, who talked on Tuesday with the Bosnia Presidency members Milorad Dodik, Sefik Dzaferovic and Zeljko Komsic as well as the Speaker of Bosnia's House of Peoples Dragan Covic.

MEP Michael Gahler asked Dodik what did he talk about with Lavrov in Antalya and if Banja Luka, the administrative centre of Bosnia's Serb-majority region Republika Srpska, would be recognised as the “Banja Luka republic just like Donetsk and Lugansk were.” His colleague, MEP Tineke Strik, asked Dodik to break the ties with Kremlin and end “destructive rhetoric.” In addition to that, she asked Covic, who is also the leader of the strongest Croat party in BiH HDZ BIH, to distance from Dodik until he condemns aggression on Ukraine.

Dodik replied that he “condemns every war.”

“Just like I condemned bombarding of Belgrade I condemn the use of force in Ukraine, no matter where it comes from. We call for establishing of peace,” he told the AFET members.

He denied being under the influence of Russia “regardless of stereotypes you are trying to spread.

“Yes, I talked to Lavrov. There was nothing secret about it. I was in Russia prior to that and we discussed economic activities,” Dodik said answering to the criticism.

He went on explaining the business activities that Republika Srpska is implementing with Russia, mostly in energy sector, repeating that nothing is kept secret.

“I was not in a meeting with Lavrov, we talked on the phone and nothing can be hidden in a phone conversation. Maybe your intelligence service knows all the details, but I can send you the transcript,” he added.

Answering to the questions addressed to him, Covic denied having “close ties” with Dodik or any other politician.

“That's a perception imposed from Sarajevo,” he said.

Previously, during his address, Covic stressed he “unequivocally” stands with EU in condemning the Russian aggression on Ukraine.

“We in BiH particularly sympathyse with the citizens of Ukraine. I am personally witnessing the suffering of the refugees, we welcomed about hundred of them in Herzegovina,” Covic said.

He also used the opportunity to emphasise the necessity of amending the electoral legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, noting that “demographic supremacy of the Bosniak people must not influence the equality with other peoples.”

Covic noted that the Croat side is calling for compromise with the Bosniaks but added that the agreement cannot be reached without the help of the international community, assessing their responsibility as “historically big.”

“We must bring to the end the negotiating process which we opened together, in order to urgently get out of insecurities that we are in, without further delay – the electoral legislation needs to be amended immediately,” he underlined.

Similar to Dodik, who called the Bosniak and the Croat Presidency members two “Muslim” members of the Presidency, Covic said that there are two Bosniak members of the Presidency.

Covic strongly objects the election of his rival Zeljko Komsic to the post of the Croat Presidency member, saying that he is not a legitimate representative of the Croats and that he was elected owing to the votes of the Bosniaks.