How EU preparing for the elections in Republika Srpska

Republika Srpska is preparing for early presidential elections. They will take place this Sunday, November 23.

The early elections are due to the fact that incumbent President Milorad Dodik was stripped of his mandate after he disobeyed the UN representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt. He subsequently called him a fascist. Just a week before the political campaign, a number of foreign publications suddenly recalled the three-year-old film "Sarajevo Safari." It tells the story of wealthy Italians who, under the control of Serbian army officers, allegedly arrived in the 1990s on a special hunting trip. No evidence was presented, but some footage, such as the rapid appearance of both a camera and a UN vehicle at the crime scene, suggests a staged plot and another attempt to pit Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks against each other in the run-up to the next elections.

Andrea Palmeri, journalist (Italy):

"Milorad Dodik is an independent man. He has often spoken out against the European Union, against NATO, and for the freedom of the Serbian people. It's understandable that Europe doesn't like him."