It is clear that BiH Presidency member, Milorad Dodik, is a pro-Russian politician and that he would never dare to betray Vladimir Putin, economy expert, Svetlana Cenic, told N1.

Cenic predicted that other countries will probably follow the example of the United States and the United Kingdom, which introduced sanctions targeting Dodik due to his activities throughout the past months.

Dodik, who is also the leader of the ruling party in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity, has initiated a process to reverse post-war reforms that led to the establishment of numerous state institutions in BiH. The RS National Assembly expressed support for his initiative which would entail the unilateral withdrawal of the RS from BiH institutions, including the army, tax authority and judicial institutions, and the establishment of parallel institutions in the entity.

This prompted the US and the UK to impose sanctions against him.

Cenic said that she does not expect the European Union to follow suit as it is unlikely that the EU will reach a consensus that would be necessary for such a move.

“We already know that Hungary would not support it due to their own interests,” she said.

However, Cenic predicted that member states will individually impose sanctions against him and that the Netherlands will likely be the first to do so.

Cenic said that Dodik openly presents himself as a pro-Russian politician, noting that he could recently be heard shouting “long live Russia.”

“There is no need to ask whose player he is and whom he supports,” she said.

“He would not dare to betray (Vladimir) Putin, he would face harsh punishments,” she said, arguing that previous examples show what happens to “those who turned away from the hand that raised them.”

Dodik recently told reporters that the British special forces planned to kidnap him and even said that he acquired a list of items they were supposed to take from his home.

Cenic dismissed his statements as “conspiracy theories.”

“These are all performances that we have been watching for so long,” she said.

“I think he is more afraid of SIPA (BiH’s State Investigation and Protection Agency), but he came voluntarily to testify,” she said, referring to an ongoing investigation by state prosecutors who named Dodik a suspect in a case involving the ‘Pavlovic Bank’.