SARAJEVO: The US Embassy in Bosnia on Tuesday rejected accusations by Serb nationalist leaders that the United States is seeking interfere in next month’s general election.
The embassy said in a statement that “the United States is not interfering in the election process and we strongly reject such appalling accusations.”
Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik, who is pro-Russia, has accused the US and Britain of supporting his opponents and seeking to influence the outcome of the Oct. 7 vote. The election is seen as crucial indicator of whether the country, ravaged by a civil war in the 1990s, will join the European Union and NATO, or continue with bickering between its Serb, Muslim and Croat ethnic groups.
Dodik said Thursday that the US and Britain have secured millions of euros to finance various opposition groups in the Bosnian Serb territory.
“I will insist that the foreign meddling stops,” Dodik said at a press conference.
The US Embassy condemned “irresponsible actors” who “drag us into conspiracy theories, unfounded accusations, and, bluntly, lies.”
“We do not back one candidate or one party over another,” its statement said, adding that the US refuses to be part of a pre-election “manipulation.”
Dodik, who has advocated the secession of the Bosnian Serb autonomous regions and joining Serbia, is running for a Serb seat in Bosnia’s three-member presidency.
