Dodik Privately in Croatia: Requested Police Escort, Told He Has No Protected Person Status

Croatian daily Jutarnji list published an article today stating that the president of the Bosnian entity Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, was unofficially in Croatia, but that he requested different treatment and that his escort be armed, reports the Patria agency.

Jutarnji list sent an inquiry to the Ministry of the Interior about when and how Milorad Dodik crossed the Croatian state border, whether his security entered Croatia with him, and how the police treated their weapons.

- From the response we received, it appears that Dodik is not considered a state official in Croatia who would have protected person status, therefore his security was not allowed to enter Croatia with weapons, nor did he receive an escort from our police in Croatia.

- The Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zagreb contacted our Ministry of the Interior on February 12, informing them that Dodik plans to travel to Croatia on February 14, to the Eparchy of Gornji Karlovac, to meet with Bishop Gerasim of Gornji Karlovac, with whom he will celebrate the patron saint day of St. Tryphon. They stated that he intends to enter at the Stara Gradiška border crossing and requested that the Ministry of the Interior be informed and that Croatian police provide him with an escort while on Croatian territory - our source from the Ministry of the Interior told us, adding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forwarded all this to the Ministry of the Interior.

Dodik was given a response that his escort can enter Croatia only as civilians, i.e., without weapons, and that Croatian police will not provide security for him after crossing the border because he does not have protected person status.

Dodik arrived in Croatia on Wednesday, and the visit was completely unannounced to the Croatian public, and even to political circles from the ranks of the Serbian national minority.

As he told journalists who came with him from Banja Luka, he came to Karlovac to support the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Eparchy of Gornji Karlovac, where the patron saint day of St. Tryphon is celebrated, and he was invited by Bishop Gerasim of Gornji Karlovac. On Wednesday, after visiting the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas of Myra and the liturgy served by Bishop Sergije of Bihać-Petrovac, he visited his host Gerasim. Unlike the Croatian authorities, Gerasim treated Dodik as an official person, so he gave him an icon of Jesus Christ, emphasizing that it is intended for statesmen.

From the Eparchy of Gornji Karlovac, they stated on Wednesday that Dodik's visit was private and unofficial, which is why they did not inform the public.