SARAJEVO (Reuters) -Bosnia’s defence minister refused to let a military plane carrying Hungary’s foreign minister land in the Bosnian Serb Republic on Wednesday, saying Budapest had supported the Bosnian Serb leader in acts that undermined Bosnia’s sovereignty.
Defence Minister Zukan Helez said Hungary had failed to provide an explanation as to why Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto was on the plane that wanted to land in Banja Luka, the main city of the country’s autonomous Serb Republic.
Szijjarto visited neighbouring Serbia on Wednesday to discuss details of how Hungary can help Belgrade after crude oil shipments from Croatia stopped.
Helez said Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Szijjarto had openly supported Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik in acts that “undermine sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)”.
“As the Minister of Defence of BiH, my duty is to protect the constitutional order, laws and interest of BiH,” Helez said in a post on Facebook.
“That is why I have decided not to approve this flight until full transparency and respect of our state are ensured.”
The Hungarian foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Dodik, the former president of the Serb Republic who was stripped of duty after being convicted for defying the decisions of the international peace envoy and constitutional court, has boasted about Orban’s support for his policies.
Dodik and his ally Sinisa Karan, who won the region’s snap presidential vote at the weekend according to preliminary results, met with Orban in Budapest on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic, additonal reporting by Anita Komuves in Budapest; Editing by Ed Osmond)
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