The so-called decision of the president of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, to declare the Ukrainian ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina "undesirable person" is null and void, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Oleh Nikolenko, has said.
"Ukraine has no ambassador in the so-called Republika Srpska. Vasyl Krylych is accredited as Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina with residence in Zagreb. According to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the powers in the field of foreign policy are the exclusive competence of the Presidency of BiH," Nikolenko said.
He stressed that Milorad Dodik has no authority to make such decisions. His statement should be seen only as "a clumsy attempt to justify his populist decisions to please the Kremlin".
Earlier, Dodik justified his decision to award Vladimir Putin with the highest distinction of entente for Russia's commitment to the Dayton agreements.
Dodik also said that Ukraine's ambassador to Croatia and concurrently to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vasyl Kyrylych, has been declared an "undesirable person" in Republika Srpska. This happened after the Ukrainian ambassador called Dodik's decision a reward of one terrorist by another.