"By granting Bosnia and Herzegovina the status of a membership candidate, the European Union is only trying to keep the country away from Russia," the Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, said in an interview with the Bosnian Serb state news platform RTRS late on Thursday.

He called on the Bosnian Serbs to oppose this, saying that EU membership would eventually abolish the powers of the Republika Srpska, the Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The candidate status is a very dangerous matter,” Botsan-Kharchenko said, adding that the Republika Srpska will come under the additional pressure of centralisation as Bosnia and Herzegovina moves towards the EU. He said that Bosnia and Herzegovina can exist only on the foundation established by the Dayton peace agreement.

Botsan-Kharchenko, who had served as Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2009 to 2014, praised Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, saying he was confident that they would remain consistent in their opposition to imposing sanctions on and severing ties with Russia and thus continue to strengthen the sovereignty of the Republika Srpska and Serbia.

The Russian ambassador rejected Russia’s responsibility for the war in Ukraine, blaming it on the West and its armament of Ukraine.