World News – USA – Bosnian Serbs say symbol given to Russian minister was not stolen

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) – An Orthodox icon presented to the Russian Foreign Minister was not stolen from Ukraine’s office, the Serbian leader of Bosnia said Tuesday, amid an international diplomatic Spit on its origins.

The presiding Serbian MP for the three-person presidency of Bosnia, Milorad Dodik, presented the gilded icon to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when he visited Bosnia in December. 14th.

The icon, said to be 300 years old, is believed to have come from eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed rebels fought against Ukrainian troops in a six-year conflict. Dozens of Serbs fought in the conflict with the pro-Russian rebels.

The Ukrainian embassy in Sarajevo has requested information on how the Bosnian Serb leader got the icon. Failure to provide this information would mean that Bosnia supports Russia’s « aggressive policy and military action » in eastern Ukraine.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday it would return the icon to the Bosnian Serbs for an international police investigation into its origin.

After more than a week of silence, Dodik’s office said in a statement that the icon was not stolen and that it is not a piece of “cultural heritage or national treasure”. It was said to be an « Church-blessed icon » that ordinary Orthodox believers keep in their homes.

The statement did not specify how Dodik got the religious work of art or how it was brought to Bosnia. Instead, it condemned rival Bosnian politicians and media outlets for telling lies to damage Serbian-Russian relations.

Milorad Dodik, Coronavirus, Serbs, President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Snježana Dodik