A court in Bosnia sentences separatist Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik to 1 year in prison

A court in Bosnia sentences separatist Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik to 1 year in prison
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik addresses his supporters during a rally organized on the eve of a court verdict for him in Banja Luka, on Feb. 25, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 26 February 2025
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A court in Bosnia sentences separatist Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik to 1 year in prison

A court in Bosnia sentences separatist Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik to 1 year in prison
  • The landmark ruling by the court in Sarajevo came after a yearlong trial against Dodik
  • The leader and his lawyers weren’t at the court during the sentencing

SARAJEVO: A court in Bosnia on Wednesday sentenced Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russia Bosnian Serb president, to one year in prison and banned him from engaging in politics for six years over his separatist actions.
The landmark ruling by the court in Sarajevo came after a yearlong trial against Dodik on charges that he disobeyed the top international envoy overseeing peace in the Balkan country.
The leader and his lawyers weren’t at the court during the sentencing. Dodik has said that he would disobey any conviction and threatened “radical measures” in response, including eventual secession of the Serb-run entity in Bosnia called Republika Srpska from the rest of the country.
Dodik has repeatedly called for the separation of the Serb-run half of Bosnia to join it with neighboring Serbia, which prompted the United States and the United Kingdom to impose sanctions against him and his close allies. Dodik is also accused of corruption and pro-Russia policies.
Dodik’s separatist threats stoked fears in Bosnia, where a 1992-95 war left 100,000 people killed and displaced millions. The US-sponsored Dayton Accords ended the war nearly three decades ago and created two regions, Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation.
The two regions were given wide autonomy, but kept some joint institutions, including the army, top judiciary and tax administration. Bosnia also has a rotating three-member presidency made up of Bosniak, Serb and Croat members.
Dodik was in the Bosnian Serb administrative capital Banja Luka, where thousands gathered Wednesday in his support.
“They say I am guilty, but now people here will say why I am not guilty,” Dodik told the crowd shortly after the verdict was announced. “There is no reason to worry. I have learned to deal with tougher situations. It is important that you are here.”
In neighboring Serbia, pro-government media reported that populist President Aleksandar Vucic called an urgent session of the national security council there.
Dodik is unlikely to be sent to prison, because he enjoys the full support of Vucic, who can provide shelter to him in Belgrade. Dodik is also expected to appeal the conviction.
Dodik has repeatedly clashed with top international envoy Christian Schmidt and declared his decisions illegal in Republika Srpska. The Dayton peace agreement envisages that the high representative can impose decisions and change laws in the country.
The war in Bosnia erupted when the country’s Serbs rebelled against the country’s independence from the former Yugoslavia and moved to form a mini-state of their own with the aim of uniting it with neighboring Serbia.


Macron visits Madagascar in the first trip by a French leader to the former colony in 20 years

Macron visits Madagascar in the first trip by a French leader to the former colony in 20 years
Updated 9 sec ago
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Macron visits Madagascar in the first trip by a French leader to the former colony in 20 years

Macron visits Madagascar in the first trip by a French leader to the former colony in 20 years
  • France and Madagascar signed several agreements and memoranda of understanding, including in energy, agriculture and education
  • Macron also announced funding from the French Development Agency and a loan from the French treasury for the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Volobe in eastern Madagascar

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar: French President Emmanuel Macron began a two-day visit to the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar on Wednesday and spoke of the need for his country to find new markets and boost economic cooperation in the region.
Macron’s visit marked the first by a French leader to the former colony off the east coast of Africa since Jacques Chirac’s in 2005.
The trip also delved into disputes between the nations stemming from the colonial era, including Madagascar’s claims over a group of small islands that are French territory, and its demands that France return the remains of a local king who was killed by French colonial forces in the late 1800s.
Macron met with Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina in the capital, Antananarivo, and they signed several agreements and memoranda of understanding, including in energy, agriculture and education.
Macron also announced funding from the French Development Agency and a loan from the French treasury for the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Volobe in eastern Madagascar, which has been planned for nearly a decade.
Macron is due to attend Thursday a summit of the Indian Ocean Commission in Madagascar, a bloc made up of Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles and Reunion — which is a territory of France. China, India and the European Union are among a group of countries and international bodies that have observer status at the commission.
“We need to conquer, at least, the market of the (Indian Ocean Commission),” Macron said Wednesday. “And then, more widely, East Africa and the Indian Ocean.”
On some of their disagreements, Rajoelina said there would be a new round of meetings on June 30 over the fate of the Scattered Islands, five small islands around Madagascar that fall under France’s overseas territories but are claimed by Madagascar.
France favors a system where the islands would be jointly managed by the two countries, but the UK’s decision last year to hand over control of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius has spurred some in Madagascar to push for full control of the Scattered Islands — which are known as the Eparses Islands in France.
Madagascar and France “are determined to find a solution together,” Rajoelina said.
Macron said he would work with Madagascar over the agreed return of three skulls that were taken from Madagascar more than 125 years ago and displayed in a Paris museum. One of them is believed to be the skull of King Toera of the Sakalava people, who was beheaded by French troops in 1897.


Trump slams Zelensky over ‘inflammatory’ Crimea stance

Trump slams Zelensky over ‘inflammatory’ Crimea stance
Updated 28 min 36 sec ago
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Trump slams Zelensky over ‘inflammatory’ Crimea stance

Trump slams Zelensky over ‘inflammatory’ Crimea stance
  • “It’s inflammatory statements like Zelensky’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War,” Trump said
  • “Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,” Zelensky was quoted as saying

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a deal on halting the Ukraine war was “very close,” but slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over his refusal to formally cede Crimea to Russia.
“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelensky’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The outburst came after US media reports said Trump was ready to accept recognition of annexed Crimea as Russian territory, and after Vice President JD Vance said land swaps would be fundamental to any deal.
In his post, Trump was referring to Zelensky’s comments, published in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, in which he said that ceding Crimea is against Ukraine’s constitution.
“Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,” Zelensky was quoted as saying. “There is nothing to talk about here.”
Trump lambasted Zelensky over the remarks.
“This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia,” Trump said, adding that if Ukraine “wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?“
He added: “The statement made by Zelensky today will do nothing but prolong the ‘killing field,’ and nobody wants that!“
“We are very close to a Deal, but the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE.”


Court overturns French decision to cut funding to biggest Muslim school

Court overturns French decision to cut funding to biggest Muslim school
Updated 48 min 58 sec ago
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Court overturns French decision to cut funding to biggest Muslim school

Court overturns French decision to cut funding to biggest Muslim school
  • Lille administrative court said the prefecture didn’t provide sufficient evidence that the school was failing to comply with French republican values
  • “It’s a victory for the rule of law,” the high school said

PARIS: An administrative court on Wednesday overturned France’s decision to cut government funding to the country’s biggest Muslim high school in 2023, in what rights groups say is part of a wider crackdown on Muslim schools.
Private school Averroes, the first Muslim high school to open in mainland France in 2003 in the northern city of Lille, had 800 pupils in 2023 and had been under contract with the state since 2008. Pupils follow the regular French curriculum, and are also offered religion classes.
At the end of 2023, the government’s local representative known as the ‘prefecture’ said the school had administrative and financial problems and some teaching did not align with French republican values, therefore public funding was to be cut.
In its Wednesday ruling, the Lille administrative court said the prefecture didn’t provide sufficient evidence that the school was failing to comply with French republican values. Other failings for which the prefecture did have evidence, such as refusing a surprise inspection, did not give sufficient grounds to justify ending its contract with the school.
“It’s a victory for the rule of law,” the high school said in a statement on Wednesday. “Averroes is a high school aiming for excellence and will now be able to continue its work with its pupils serenely.”
As a result of the ruling, the high school’s contract with the state will be automatically reinstated, Paul Jablonski, a lawyer for Averroes, told Reuters. He added he hoped the prefecture would not appeal the ruling.
The Lille prefecture didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.


Greek PM ‘not trying to pick a fight’ with Turkiye, to pursue visit

Greek PM ‘not trying to pick a fight’ with Turkiye, to pursue visit
Updated 57 min 12 sec ago
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Greek PM ‘not trying to pick a fight’ with Turkiye, to pursue visit

Greek PM ‘not trying to pick a fight’ with Turkiye, to pursue visit
  • Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he would go ahead with a planned meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday vowed to carry out a planned visit to Turkiye despite regional tension and the recent arrest of Istanbul’s mayor.
The Greek leader was to visit Ankara this month under a schedule agreed in 2023 to smooth over differences between the rival neighbors, who are NATO members.
The trip appeared to have been shelved after the Athens government last month said it was “difficult” to organize after the “worrying” arrest of Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Mitsotakis said Wednesday however that he would go ahead with a planned meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He did not say when it would happen.
“There is no issue or particular reason why this meeting should be postponed,” he told Proto Thema daily.
Mitsotakis added that he was “not trying to pick a fight with Turkiye” to burnish his domestic standing.
The Aegean boundary between the two, which Greece says is based on 20th century treaties, is a key obstacle in relations.
There are frequent disputes over migration, energy exploration in the Aegean and territorial sovereignty.
Greece last week released a marine spatial planning map which Turkiye said violates its maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkiye has also sought to impede an electricity cable project between Greece, Cyprus and Israel called the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI).
Mitsotakis on Wednesday called the cable “a European project which will proceed in due course.”


Germany says monitoring Russia’s use of ‘disposable’ agents

Germany says monitoring Russia’s use of ‘disposable’ agents
Updated 23 April 2025
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Germany says monitoring Russia’s use of ‘disposable’ agents

Germany says monitoring Russia’s use of ‘disposable’ agents
  • European intelligence services believed that Russia was behind the plot
  • Kock declined to go into detail but said German authorities were “closely observing the means Russian services are now resorting to”

BERLIN: Germany said Wednesday it was monitoring changing Russian sabotage tactics, after media reports linked a plan to plant explosive devices on cargo planes to low-level operatives hired by Moscow.
European intelligence services believed that Russia was behind the plot, which saw parcels explode at two DHL depots last July, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily and public broadcasters WDR and NDR reported.
Several people implicated in the operation were believed to be “disposable” agents with no official position in the Russian intelligence services, according to the report.
Such low-level agents were typically recruited via messaging apps to carry out tasks for money, the report said.
Quizzed about the incidents at a regular press conference, German interior ministry spokeswoman Sonja Kock said investigations were “continuing intensively.”
Kock declined to go into detail but said German authorities were “closely observing the means Russian services are now resorting to,” including the use of “so-called low-level agents.”
Kock also told the briefing that Russian intelligence services operating in Germany had been “recently weakened by the expulsion of numerous agents.”
Another interior ministry official later told AFP that she was referring to the April 2022 expulsion of 40 Russian diplomats who were intelligence officers, and further departures of diplomats the following year.
The explosions at DHL depots in Leipzig, Germany and Birmingham in Britain have been described by Germany’s domestic intelligence chief Thomas Haldenwang as a “lucky accident” because of the limited impact.
Testifying before a parliamentary committee in October, Haldenwang said “there would have been a crash” if the parcels had exploded mid-flight on planes.
Kock said Wednesday that the “danger of sabotage... has increased significantly in Germany since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.”
German authorities were doing “everything in our power to thwart... Russian espionage, sabotage and cyber-attacks,” she said.