U.S. urges Bosnian Serb leader to halt secessionist rhetoric

FILE PHOTO: Bosnia's member of tripartite presidency Milorad Dodik attends a news conference, following the donation of a batch of vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, at Sarajevo International Airport in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, March 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A top U.S. diplomat on Thursday warned the Bosnian Serb leader that his threats to secede from Bosnia could lead to economic isolation of the Serbs who account for nearly a third of Bosnia's population.

The U.S. embassy in Sarajevo said in a tweet that Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar had warned Milorad Dodik, Serb member of the Bosnian presidency, "that threats of secession and rolling back reforms" will result in "nothing but isolation and economic despair."