US Bombers Fly Over Bosnia in Sign of Support Amid Continued Secessionist Threats
A B-1B Lancer flies over the Persian Gulf Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. On Tuesday, May 30, 2023, two B-1B Lancer aircraft assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing currently operating out of RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, conducted a low approach flyby over Sarajevo and other cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to underscore the United States' strong partnership with the Armed Forces of BiH and enduring commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and multiethnic character. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jerreht Harris via AP.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — A pair of U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew low over Sarajevo and several other Bosnian cities on Tuesday as a sign of support amid continued secessionist threats by the staunchly pro-Russia Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.
In addition, the aircraft also participated in a joint military event in the north-eastern town of Tuzla with Bosnia’s multi-ethnic army and U.S. Army Special Forces.
The flights were a demonstration of “a rock-solid commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Bosnia, said the U.S. ambassador to the Balkan country, Michael Murphy.
The United States Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Michael J. Murphy speaks to the media after the Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber flew over Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, May 30, 2023. AP photo by Armin Durgut.
Murphy added that United States “remain steadfast and committed” to the relationship with the Bosnian armed forces “in the face of political stability within (Bosnia) and acute threat from malign actors outside” the country.
Dodik, who is the president of Bosnia’s Serb-run part, Republika Srpska, has repeatedly advocated for the breakup of the country and voiced his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this month, he travelled to Moscow to meet with Putin and reiterate his support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
He reacted angrily to the flight over Bosnia by U.S. bombers, accusing Washington of “disrespecting” the country’s territorial integrity and treating it “as a guinea pig that they can suffocate and cut off its air supply for as long as they want.”
Soldiers of the US Army Airborne Division wait for the Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber flight over Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, May 30, 2023. AP photo by Armin Durgut.
A U.S.-brokered peace deal in 1995 ended a nearly 4-year-long internecine war in Bosnia that left at least 100,000 people dead and millions homeless. It left the country deeply divided between its three main ethnic groups - Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. The Dayton Peace Accords split Bosnia into two highly autonomous entities - Republika Srpska and one dominated by mostly Bosniaks and Croats - linked by shared, state-wide institutions.
Russia has been exploiting the divisions by supporting Dodik’s separatist policies, raising fears in the West that the Kremlin might use him to create further instability in the volatile Balkan country to divert some attention from its war in Ukraine.
Read Next: How a Former Danish Commando Used His ‘Ghost’ Camaro To Provide Humanitarian Aid to War-Torn Bosnia
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