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https://www.theguardian.

com/world/2018/jan/12/russian-trained-mercenaries-back-bosnias-serb-
separatists

Russian-trained mercenaries back Bosnia's


Serb separatists
Security minister confirms report, fuelling fears of destabilisation of the Balkans and a
resistance to Nato enlargement

Julian Borger in Washington

Fri 12 Jan 2018 18.23 GMT Last modified on Sat 13 Jan 2018 01.41 GMT

Zurnal published photographs of the militia on the streets of Banja Luka, posing in military
fatigues. Photograph: Žurnal

Russian-trained mercenaries are helping to establish a paramilitary unit serving the Serb
separatist leader in Bosnia, it was reported in Sarajevo on Friday.

The report on the Žurnal news site, which was confirmed by the Bosnian security minister,
comes at a time of mounting western anxiety about Russian efforts to destabilise the Balkans
and resist Nato enlargement in the region.

Serbia deports Russians suspected of


plotting Montenegro coup
Read more

On Tuesday, Milorad Dodik, the hardline leader of the Serb half of Bosnia, staged a military
parade in Banja Luka in defiance of a ruling by the country’s constitutional court.
The Žurnal report said that a militia called “Serbian Honour” – which it said had been trained
in a Russian-funded “humanitarian centre” in Serbia – was in the process of setting up a
paramilitary group to be used against Dodik’s opponents.

It published photographs of the militia on the streets of Banja Luka, the administrative centre
of the Republika Srpska, a semi-autonomous entity within Bosnia created by the Dayton
peace agreement that ended the 1992-95 war. The pictures show the paramilitaries posing in
black sweaters and in combat gear.

The report, including a picture of the award ceremony, says one of the group’s leaders, Bojan
Stojković, is a former Serbian paratrooper who had trained in Moscow, and had been awarded
a medal by Valeriy Kalyakin, a Russian general.

Dragan Mektić, the Bosnian security minister, said intelligence and security services were
aware of the presence and activities of the group.

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Zurnal said the group was recruiting from the Serb criminal underworld. Photograph: Zurnal

“We have been using this information for a long time, we have collected quite a lot of
information about that,” Mektić said, adding he could not provide further details as his
officials were compiling a full report for the Bosnian prosecutor’s office.

The Zurnal report said the group was recruiting from the Serb criminal underworld to form a
new paramilitary unit loyal to Dodik. It quotes a leaked security service document as saying
that Dodik’s aides discussed the aims of the new unit with “Serbian Honour” leaders and the
goals would include “possible intervention if the opposition seeks to obstruct the functioning
of the authorities”.

“For such a president, it is worth to give one’s life”, Stojković wrote under a picture of
Vladimir Putin on his Instagram profile, according to the report.
Under the photo of Dodik, he wrote: “Nobody can do us any harm, we are stronger than
destiny”.

The appearance of the paramilitaries in Bosnia comes 15 months after Russian intelligence
was implicated in an abortive coup in Montenegro, in which mercenaries planned to storm
parliament, assassinate Milo Đukanović, the country’s pro-western leader, , and prevent it
from joining Nato. The plot was foiled and Montenegro became a Nato member in June 2017.

The Bosnian government is also pursuing Nato membership, but the resistance of the
Republika Srpska under Dodik is hindering progress.

“This is part of a larger change in the international order, starting with the invasion in
Georgia, Syria, Ukraine, the meddling in the US elections,” said Reuf Bajrović, Bosnia’s
former energy minister, calling the appearance of the paramilitaries in Banja Luka a
“watershed moment”.

“The Russians have decided to use their leverage in the Balkans to get the outcome they want:
the end of the Dayton accords and the creation of a Serb statelet.”

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