JANKOVIĆ: BANNING DODIK FROM ENTERING SLOVENIA NOT RIGHT

LJUBLJANA, SEPTEMBER 16 /SRNA/ – The Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, states it is not right that the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has been banned from entering Slovenia.

"I don’t think that’s right; I wouldn’t have done it. But I’m not interfering in the Slovenian government’s decision," Janković said. He noted that on September 13 he met with Slovenia’s Foreign Minister, Tanja Fajon, to whom he conveyed his disagreement with the sanctions imposed on Dodik, according to the Slovenian daily Dnevnik. Janković says he asked Fajon whether the Slovenian authorities had, before adopting this decision, checked how many Slovenian companies operate in BiH, how business operations are conducted there, and whether they are facing any issues. The Government of Slovenia confirmed on September 11 its decision to impose sanctions on Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska and SNSD party leader, which include a ban on entering the country. In response, the Government of Republika Srpska introduced reciprocal measures, banning Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Tanja Fajon from entering Republika Srpska. Zoran Stevanović, leadert of the Slovenian political party Resni.ca, told SRNA that the sanctions against Dodik are harmful, and that the Slovenian government in this case is acting more like an extension of Brussels' administration than as an independent and sovereign authority — something that often works against Slovenia’s own interests. Peran Bošković, the parish priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ in Ljubljana, also told SRNA that the Serb community in Slovenia supports the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and that relations with the country have always been positive, which makes the imposition of sanctions surprising.