Bosnian authorities blocked the landing of the military plane carrying Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister of Hungary, in Republika Srpska, the Bosnian Serb entity.
Bosnia blocked the landing of Peter Szijjarto's military plane PHOTO: Facebook/Peter Szijjarto
The reason cited by Bosnian Defense Minister Zukan Helez was Budapest's support for former Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, actions which, according to him, undermined the country's sovereignty. Helez explained on Facebook that Hungary “gave no clear explanation about the arrival of Peter Szijjarto on board a military plane“.
He added that Szijjarto, together with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, supported Milorad Dodik “in actions that affected the sovereignty, territorial integrity and cohesion of Bosnia”. Dodik was ousted in August after being convicted of ignoring the decisions of the international envoy tasked with overseeing the Bosnia Peace Agreement, which has ensured the country's stability since the end of the 1992-1995 inter-ethnic war.
The conflict in Bosnia and the division of the country
The war in Bosnia left more than 100,000 dead and left the country divided into two semi-autonomous entities: the Serb-led Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnian Croats.
In a visit to Budapest on Wednesday, Milorad Dodik met Viktor Orban, marking his first foreign outing since his successor's victory in Republika Srpska's election on Sunday. In a message published on X, Dodik described the ban from holding any political office as a “unconstitutional decision” intended to discredit Republika Srpska.
