How did Dodik manage to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Bosnia and Herzegovina's border police have opened an investigation into how and where fugitive Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik crossed the country's border and went to Serbia yesterday, despite the fact that an arrest warrant had been issued for him, while everyone is wondering how this could have happened.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has ordered pre-trial detention and issued an arrest warrant for Dodik, the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Visjkovic, and the Speaker of the entity's parliament, Nenad Stevandic, due to their refusal to appear at hearings called by the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of an investigation into allegations of violating the country's constitutional order.

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The arrest warrant, which is currently valid only for the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, obliges all police agencies in the country to arrest and hand over Dodik, Višković and Stevandić to the judicial police if they encounter them in the course of their duties. This includes the Border Police, which almost every day during routine checks catch and arrest people for whom the country's courts have issued arrest warrants.

However, despite the arrest warrant, Dodik managed to cross the border without hindrance and appeared yesterday in Belgrade, where he stood alongside Aleksandar Vučić at a rally organized by Serbian authorities to commemorate the anniversary of the start of NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia in 1999, which aimed to stop the persecution of Albanians in Kosovo.

The member of the joint commission of the two houses of the parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina for defense and security, Kemal Ademović, told reporters in Sarajevo that he had no information about how Dodik arrived in Belgrade and that he himself was surprised by this fact. He announced that a special session of the commission would be held due to this incident, which has called into question the state of the security sector in the country, writes index.hr.

The Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed today that their director, Mirko Kuprešaković, has ordered an investigation into how Milorad Dodik crossed the border between Bosnia and Serbia. They added that, in accordance with the law, all necessary measures are being taken to protect the state border.

The Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina has suffered from a lack of personnel and equipment for years. Currently, the force is short of more than 500 border officers, theoretically leaving one officer to cover every 40 to 50 kilometers of the border line.

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Bosnian media speculate that Dodik may have taken advantage of this and crossed the border through one of the many illegal crossings to avoid the risk of arrest. Dodik is being escorted into Bosnia by heavily armed members of the Republika Srpska Interior Ministry's counter-terrorism unit, tasked with preventing his arrest.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's courts still have the option of issuing an international arrest warrant for Dodik, while his inner circle has announced that he will continue his stay abroad with a visit to Israel. He is said to be planning to attend a conference in Jerusalem on March 26 and 27, organized by the Israeli Ministry for Diaspora, dedicated to the fight against anti-Semitism.

The German Commissioner for Jewish Affairs, Felix Klein, has canceled his participation in this conference precisely because of the announced presence of Dodik and several figures of the French far right. /Telegraph/