Serbia halts construction of South Stream, Dodik loses connection with Moscow!

Serbia has halted the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, after Bulgaria did the same, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP). Belgrade officials announced that work on the pipeline, one branch of which, at the insistence of the Republika Srpska, was supposed to pass through Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been stopped. However, after the European Commission criticized Bulgaria, claiming that the project violates regulations, construction was halted. Serbia's decision is a consequence of the suspension of work in Bulgaria.

However, as a Patria source says, the suspension of the South Stream construction will deprive Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, of one of his strongest electoral assets. Namely, by insisting on the South Stream, Dodik built ties between Banja Luka and Russia and used it to maintain contact with officials, even though it was not within his jurisdiction.

But with the failure or suspension of this project, Dodik will no longer have the main argument to present himself as a Russian ally in the Balkans.

- Dodik used the South Stream, although it is not of great significance for the RS, given that even now they do not use the full potential of the gas entering Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a major project connecting the smaller entity with Russia. However, now everything is jeopardized and it becomes clear to everyone that the RS is actually part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of Europe, and that Moscow is much farther than Brussels - said a Patria source close to the authorities of the smaller entity.