The chairman of the German parliament's foreign affairs committee, Michael Roth, has said that Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik's rhetoric is disgusting and that his conduct resembles that of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Shame on Milorad Dodik! His rhetoric sounds like Putin's. Disgusting,” Roth said in a Twitter post following a salvo of insults Dodik on Thursday levelled against Germany and its politicians.

Reacting angrily to announcements that Germany could deploy troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the EUFOR mission there, Dodik likened Germany to the Third Reich, saying the Bundestag's rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Adis Ahmetovic, reminded him of a member of Hitlerjugend.

Roth, who had served as Minister for Europe in Angela Merkel's government, was elected to Bundestag as a candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and Ahmetovic is also a member of that party.

Commenting on Dodik's insults, Roth said that it was an example of what Bosnia and Herzegovina did not need.

“Bosnia Hercegovina needs democracy, reconciliation and cooperation instead of hatred, nationalism and separatism. I'm proud of my colleague Adis Ahmetović and German soldiers serving peace and stability in the region,” Roth said in his Twitter post.

German soldiers were part of the NATO-led military mission sent to BiH after the signing of the Dayton peace agreement, which put an end to the war in the country in 1995, and they ended their participation when NATO transferred its peace-keeping mandate to the EU's Althea mission, which now has around 1,100 troops, mostly from Austria, Hungary and Romania.

An additional 500-strong contingent was sent to BiH earlier this year following Austrian general Anton Wessely's assessment that security measures needed to be stepped up in an environment destabilised by Russia's aggression on Ukraine.

Dodik said it was a mistake that EUFOR's mission was extended in the first place, announcing that he would do his best so that it ended as soon as possible, an allusion to Russia's possible role in the UN Security Council which has so far routinely approved the continuation of the mission every year.

General Wessely, too, reacted to Dodik's statements, saying that he was disappointed with them, noting that EUFOR would continue to perform its tasks impartially and treat all BiH citizens in the same way and with respect.