Bosnian Serb police have expelled a high-ranking German foreign ministry official from the Serb-majority Republika Srpska (RS) after her meeting with opposition groups. The official, German Secretary of State for European Affairs Anna Lührmann, claims that representatives of RS leader Milorad Dodik threatened her with violence in Banja Luka, the entity’s capital.

Lührmann accused Dodik of demonstrating his destructive behavior and stated that his representatives threatened her and her delegation. As a result, she had to cancel her meetings and leave Banja Luka under police escort.

The expulsion of Lührmann was part of what Bosnian Serb authorities called “reciprocal measures” following sanctions imposed by Germany. Dodik wrote on social media that he expected police to escort Lührmann out of RS promptly and permanently.

Germany and Austria have banned Dodik and his two closest aides from their territories, accusing him of threatening the security of Bosnia and the region. This move has escalated a legal and political standoff involving Dodik and his allies (Russia and Serbia) against the United States and the European Union.

Since the end of the inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, Bosnia has been divided into the Serb-majority Republika Srpska and the Bosnian and Croatian-led Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each entity has its own government and parliament, with weak central institutions holding the country together. Milorad Dodik has led a campaign to undermine these central institutions, threatening the Serb entity with secession.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/bosnian-serbs-declare-german-official-persona-non-grata/a-72147208?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf