Slovenia National Assembly Speaker Zoran Stevanovic meets Milorad Dodik in Bosnia despite entry ban

According to the news portal Necenzurirano, Stevanovic attended the consecration of a newly built Orthodox church in the village of Zavait near Foca, the ancestral village of his father. Both Stevanovic and Dodik served as godfathers for the religious ceremony, which was also attended by other senior Republika Srpska officials.

The event marks the first publicly known encounter between Stevanovic and Dodik since Slovenia imposed sanctions against the former entity president. The measure, enacted under Prime Minister Robert Golob, barred Dodik from entering Slovenia citing security risks linked to suspicious capital flows and allegations regarding undisclosed assets held by the Dodik family within the country.

While Stevanovic did not share any images featuring Dodik on his social media profiles, posting only photos of the church and referencing time spent in the hills above the Tara Rive, Dodik published several photographs and videos from the ceremony, expressing satisfaction at Stevanovic's presence. Dodik was among the first foreign politicians to congratulate Stevanović on his election as speaker of the Slovenian parliament.

Citing diplomatic sources, Necenzurirano reported that intensive lobbying efforts originating from Banja Luka and Belgrade have been underway in recent months aimed at lifting the Slovenian sanctions against Dodik. Similar restrictive measures against Dodik remain in effect in several European nations, including Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom, whereas the United States lifted its sanction package against him last autumn.

The outlet further reported that lobbying regarding the sanction regime was a key driver behind a recent visit to Stevanovic by National Assembly of Republika Srpska President Nenad Stevandic, as well as a separate meeting between Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church, neither of which were announced to the media in advance.