SARAJEVO (Reuters) -The parliament of Bosnia’s Serb Republic appointed Ana Trisic Babic as an interim president on Saturday, acknowledging officially for the first time that former President Milorad Dodik is stepping aside after a state court banned him from politics.
Trisic Babic, Dodik’s close ally, will hold the position for one month until new presidential elections are held in the Serb Republic on November 23.
The parliament also annulled a series of separatist laws that were passed over the past year after Dodik had been indicted for defying decisions of the international envoy and the constitutional court.
Dodik, a pro-Russian nationalist who wants the Serb Republic to secede and join Serbia, had so far refused to step down and continued to perform duties and travel abroad in the capacity of president. He is appealing the state court’s verdict at the constitutional court.
The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it has removed four Dodik allies from a sanctions list, in a move praised by Dodik who has been campaigning to get U.S. sanctions against himself lifted.
He has been sanctioned by the U.S. and Britain for obstructing the terms of the Dayton peace deal that ended Bosnia’s war in the 1990s, as well as by several European countries that say his separatist policies endanger peace and stability in Bosnia.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Writing by Renee Maltezou, Editing by Franklin Paul)
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