Two F-16 fighter jets will fly over Bosnia on Monday to show US support for its territorial integrity against "separatist activity" by Serbs in defiance of the country's 1990s Dayton peace accords, the embassy said. USA in Sarajevo.
"The flight will be part of bilateral air-to-ground training conducted jointly with the Bosnian national armed forces in areas of the northern Balkan country that are not controlled by Serbs," the US Embassy in Sarajevo said in a statement.
The US Embassy statement was referring to separatist statements by Milorad Dodik, the nationalist, pro-Russian leader of the post-war Bosnian Serb region, who has long called for the territory to secede and join its neighboring ally Serbia.
"This bilateral training is an example of advanced military cooperation that contributes to peace and security in the Western Balkans, as well as demonstrates the commitment of the United States to guarantee the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the face of anti-Dayton and secessionist activity," the statement said. statement.
Washington brokered the Dayton accord that ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war, in which some 100,000 people were killed and two million displaced. The treaty divided Bosnia into a Republika Srpska (RS) and a separate Federation of Croats and Bosniaks, with a relatively weak central government.
"The United States has underlined that the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not provide for the right to secede and will act if anyone tries to change this basic element of Dayton," the embassy statement added.