Separatist Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik vows to tear his country apart despite US warnings

By RADUL RADOVANOVIC
Associated Press

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The Bosnian Serbs’ separatist leader is vowing to keep weakening his war-scarred country until it tears apart, despite a pledge by the United States to prevent that. Over 100,000 died in the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995 when Belgrade-backed Bosnian Serbs tried kill and expel the country’s Croats and Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslims. Now Dodik, the pro-Russia president of the Bosnian Serbs, is seeking secession. That goes against the 1995 Dayton peace agreement. In an interview Friday, Dodik told The Associated Press, he knows America’s response will be to use force. He said the next stage would be to declare full independence of the Serb-controlled regions of Bosnia. There are concerns that Russia is trying to destabilize the region to shift attention from Ukraine.