https://www.rt.com/information/590290-american-f16-bosnia-serbs/US says F-16 flight meant to ‘warn’ Serbs

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https://www.rt.com/information/590290-american-f16-bosnia-serbs/US says F-16 flight meant to ‘warn’ Serbs

The fighter jet flyover was supposed to point out Washington’s dedication to Bosnia-Herzegovina

Two F-16 fighter jets practiced airstrikes over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday, in what the US embassy in Sarajevo described as a present of drive in assist of the nation’s central authorities towards the Bosnian Serbs.

US Military Particular Forces operators and members of the Bosnian navy acted as ahead air controllers on the bottom, guiding the jets as they flew over the Brcko and Tuzla areas in northern Bosnia. The 2 F-16 have been accompanied by a KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft.

The “coaching occasion” was additionally supposed to “show the US dedication to making sure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of [Bosnia],” the embassy mentioned, including that the US “is not going to stand by whereas the Dayton Peace Settlement and [Bosnia’s] establishments are challenged.”

The US-brokered deal ended the 1992-95 civil struggle by partitioning Bosnia between the Serb Republic (Republika Srpska, RS) and the Federation run by the Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Croats. Monday’s demonstration got here as Republika Srpska authorities celebrated its founding on January 9, 1991 – which the Muslims have sought to ban as divisive.

RS President Milorad Dodik has objected to what he described as repeated violations of the peace settlement and the Bosnian structure, saying the entity will declare independence in the event that they proceed.

NATO bombed the Bosnian Serbs in 1995, intervening within the struggle on behalf of the Bosniaks and Croats. Serb air defenses shot down an F-16 flown by Captain Scott O’Grady over Banja Luka in June that yr.

Srpska officers principally shrugged off the US present of drive on Monday, continuing with their January 9 celebrations. 

“So far as I’m involved, they may have joined our parade and flown their F-16s over Banja Luka alongside our helicopters,” Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic instructed reporters. “We received’t waste our time on them, allow them to do their jobs and we’ll do ours.”

In his speech, President Dodik insisted that the Serbs “need peace and stability and don’t threaten anybody,” however is not going to enable anybody to infringe on what’s theirs.

“To Serbs in these lands, freedom has by no means been a philosophical idea however an existential one, driving so a lot of our actions,” he mentioned. “We don’t need struggle. We would like Republika Srpska to stay our oasis of freedom.”

Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije famous {that a} ban on celebrating January 9 – the feast of St. Stephen the Martyr – would successfully imply a ban on Orthodox Christianity.

“We don’t impose our lifestyle on anybody, however we can not surrender our patron saint in any method, for that will be giving up our religion and ourselves, what’s ours by the legal guidelines of each man and God,” he mentioned.

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