SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) 鈥 A pair of U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew low over Sarajevo and several other Bosnian cities on Tuesday as a sign of support amid continued secessionist threats by the staunchly pro-Russia Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.
In addition, the aircraft also participated in a joint military event in the north-eastern town of Tuzla with Bosnia鈥檚 multi-ethnic army and U.S. Army Special Forces.
The flights were a demonstration of 鈥渁 rock-solid commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity鈥 of Bosnia, said the U.S. ambassador to the Balkan country, Michael Murphy.
Murphy added that United States 鈥渞emain steadfast and committed鈥 to the relationship with the Bosnian armed forces 鈥渋n the face of political stability within (Bosnia) and acute threat from malign actors outside鈥 the country.
Dodik, who is the president of Bosnia鈥檚 Serb-run part, Republika Srpska, has repeatedly advocated for the breakup of the country and voiced his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this month, he travelled to Moscow to meet with Putin and reiterate his support for Moscow鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.
He reacted angrily to the flight over Bosnia by U.S. bombers, accusing Washington of 鈥渄isrespecting鈥 the country鈥檚 territorial integrity and treating it 鈥渁s a guinea pig that they can suffocate and cut off its air supply for as long as they want.鈥
A U.S.-brokered peace deal in 1995 ended a nearly 4-year-long internecine war in Bosnia that left at least 100,000 people dead and millions homeless. It left the country deeply divided between its three main ethnic groups - Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. The Dayton Peace Accords split Bosnia into two highly autonomous entities - Republika Srpska and one dominated by mostly Bosniaks and Croats - linked by shared, state-wide institutions.
Russia has been exploiting the divisions by supporting Dodik鈥檚 separatist policies, raising fears in the West that the Kremlin might use him to create further instability in the volatile Balkan country to divert some attention from its war in Ukraine.
