BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday received a medal from the pro-Russian leader of Bosnia‘s Serbs, who has been sanctioned by the U.S. and Britain because of his separatist policies.
Orban visited the Bosnian Serb administrative headquarters of Banja Luka as part of a visit to Bosnia. He first traveled to Bosnia‘s capital Sarajevo on Thursday.
Bosnian Serbs are in charge of around half of Bosnia while the country’s Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslim, and ethnic Croats run the other half. Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik, a supporter of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, has sought to split from the rest of Bosnia.
There have been fears in the West that Russia could try to stir instability in Bosnia to avert some of the attention from the war in Ukraine. Bosnia remains ethnically tense and politically fragile years after a 1992-95 ethnic war.
European Union leaders last month agreed to open talks with Bosnia on joining the bloc in an effort to bring the country into its fold. Bosnia’s three-member multi-ethnic presidency said after a meeting with Orban on Thursday that it will continue on the EU path and thanked Hungary for its support.
Orban, who has often clashed with the EU because over his hard-line policies, said the Serbs are “essential” in Europe and the EU has failed to recognize that fact. Orban is also an ally of Serbia’s populist leader Aleksandar Vucic.
“I think Serbia is not treated fairly (by the EU). Serbia doesn’t get the recognition it deserves,” said Orban. “Somehow, Europe does not understand that Serbs are essential in Europe. There is no security in Europe without Serbs. Without Serbs inside – there will be no healthy European Union.”
Dodik awarded Orban with the medal in January during a Bosnian Serb statehood holiday that has been declared unconstitutional by Bosnia‘s top court, but Orban was not present to receive it at the time. Dodik has dismissed criticism of the Jan. 9 celebrations, which mark the date in 1992 when Serbs in Bosnia first declared independence, triggering a war.
Bosnia‘s current two entities were formed in a U.S.-brokered peace agreement that ended the 1990s’ war that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions displaced. Bosnia‘s Serbs have insisted on gaining as much autonomy as possible ever since.
Orban was accompanied by Hungarian businessmen during his Bosnia visit. Dodik awarded Putin with the same medal as Dodik.