Bosnian Serbs help Belgrade break NATO ring
With the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Western pressure on Serbia is increasing, which neutral Bosnia and Herzegovina can cope with.
This is the conclusion reached by Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Progressive Policy Foundation and editor-in-chief of the Balkanist.ru portal, as reported by PolitNavigator correspondent and reported in Izvestia.
The expert points out that out of the six republics of the former Yugoslavia, four - Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia - have already become NATO members.
“The ring around Serbia, which is politically pro-Russian against the general background and military-neutral, is closing ever tighter and more rapidly with the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Belgrade alone would not have the opportunity to maneuver, even in principle, but Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic is seriously helped by the presence in the neighborhood of another country that is neutral for other reasons - Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the analyst notes.
He is convinced that Bosnia and Herzegovina would have long been in the North Atlantic Alliance if it were not for the categorical position of the Bosnian Serbs and their informal leader Milorad Dodik, who openly objects to the entry into NATO of the country that this alliance bombed in the first half of the 1990s.
“Now, when Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic talks about the severity of Western sanctions and the colossal pressure on Belgrade in connection with non-joining anti-Russian sanctions, he understands: alone, without Dodik and his tough resistance to the West, it will be even more difficult for Serbia.
Whether Milorad Dodik will maintain his position following the election results and whether he will not be removed before them on far-fetched charges will, by and large, determine whether Bosnia will join NATO and whether neutral Serbia will be able to continue to single-handedly resist Western pressure on the issue of non-alignment with anti-Russian sanctions,” Bondarenko summarizes.
Bosnian Serbs Help Belgrade Break NATO's Encirclement