Serb member of the BiH Presidency Milorad Dodik says he expects the EU to take a stand on developments in BiH soon, as stories about NATO and the EU are two separate processes.
After meeting with Ambassador of the Russian Federation to BiH Petr Ivantsov in Banjaluka, Dodik told the press that Republika Srpska is not starting the revolution but will respond to political obstruction from Sarajevo with a political stance in the Srpska National Assembly.
He reiterated that he did not expect opposition’s support in the Republika Srpska National Assembly, considering that they were constantly trying to subjugate themselves to the internationals and Bakir Izetbegović rather than fight for the interests of Srpska, and that Igor Crnadak, who was harming Srpska and lacking personality as he planted the war theory to the Serb people, was one of them.
“I believe that the EU will soon support the agreement signed by the three political parties that received the majority votes by their peoples, which we would appreciate. The EU has said earlier that it is not the Annual National Programme for NATO /ANP/, but the formation of authorities that matters,” Dodik added
A Serb member of the BiH Presidency recalled that 10 months after the BiH elections, the fictitious issue of NATO membership served as an obstruction to authority formation.
“This makes it impossible for Republika Srpska to be adequately represented on the basis of the electoral will of the people. We have quasi-institutions formed at the level of BiH for the needs of one nation or part of the international community that enjoys the fact that obstruction is very powerful and that in this respect all arrangements reached internally are being obstructed. That’s what the Western powers that believe they are the ones to decide, even though they were not involved, are doing. This time, Americans were not involved,” Dodik said.
He reiterated that the lack of functioning at the BiH level means these bodies do not need BiH and that the Serbs are not adequately represented.
“We wanted and we will enter the governmental institutions at the BiH level in the capacity provided for the elections in order to enable the Serb people’s will to be expressed, not as last time – to be butchered by Bosniaks who want to harm and disrespect us as much as possible. These days we hear that it is possible to form authorities at the BiH level in some different way and I have no objection over them trying it, but they must know that this undermines the majority’s political will and no one should doubt that Srpska will respond in an adequate manner,” Dodik claims.
He reiterated that Srpska would not engage in adventures and violations of the Constitution, but the National Assembly would consider the position of the Serb people in BiH within the framework of the Dayton Peace Agreement in the next month or two, after 10 months of obstruction in the formation of BiH-level authorities, and would demand the talks to be held on all possible issues – political representation, an attempt to build a centralist BiH, a breach of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which an official document would be drafted about and a joint negotiation team formed.
According to him, there is a two-thirds majority in the Srpska Parliament entitled to make any decision.
Dodik says it is a legitimate right of the National Assembly, not a revolution, i.e. it is a demand to discuss all issues with the Federation of BiH and the other two constituent peoples.
“There is no adventurism or other position, but we see that some, according to the earlier concept of paramilitary units, are saying that Serbs are calling for war, which indicates how overwhelmed and naive they are due to the promise that they will easily take the seats that do not belong to them, thus I reject Branislav Borenović’s statement /PDP leader/ that they will accept the reduced ANP, as there is no such thing. Izetbegović also speaks about it and it is clear that the source of this story is beyond the two of them,” Dodik said.
He reiterated that European integration is significant for Srpska and having the practice on the BiH Armed Forces, the Indirect Taxation Authority and the BiH judiciary reviewed is normal.
Dodik says he offered the SDS and PDP to be part of the authorities at the BiH level, and that Mirko Šarović /SDS leader/ is doing his best to remain in power.
“Matthew Palmer /US Special Representative for the Balkans/ requested the ANP be submitted first and the formation of authorities at the BiH level be discussed afterwards, which means that someone wanted to cease the authority formation. It is possible that the consultations will be held in the coming days and the story of a candidate for the Council of Ministers chair will finally happen, although unlikely,” he said.
According to Dodik, no one is saying that the National Assembly’s session will take place on September 6, but there will be an obligation to produce material as soon as possible about the positioning of Srpska in BiH and what competences were lost through the transfer of powers and illegal decisions issued by high representatives, but also how someone steals money of the Indirect Taxation Authority from Reprublika Srpska.
Dodik said the talks held with Ivantsov were about improving relations between BiH, Republika Srpska and Russia and that Srpska was liquid and stable.
“We stated that the cooperation could be better, but that it is good at the moment and that it is necessary to focus on economic issues. We also discussed the work of the Oil Refinery in Brod, as it is very important confirmation we receive from the management of this company that the business will be continued in Srpska,” Dodik says.
He believes Russia’s constructive role will continue and rejects malicious theories about the country’s malign influence in BiH.
“We have constructive cooperation with Russia and will continue to do so. They are an important letter of the Dayton Agreement and they are not susceptible to anything being done in BiH without the consent of everyone in BiH. It is not like some others, namely the US Embassy in BiH, which two days after signing the agreement by party leaders says there is no ANP there and then opens the Pandora’s box and prevent the formation of the Council of Ministers. Russia is a constructive party respecting the agreement reached by the parties and does not interfere in internal affairs,” Dodik said.
According to him, Željko Komšić and Izetbegović are obstructing those who have received the political will of the Serb people to take their seats at the BiH level bodies.
“It is a lousy business because I wanted to raise significant economic issues there, such as the construction of the Sarajevo-Belgrade motorway and wanted BiH to receive EU candidate status. I was probably naive as I was convinced that we had almost finished this story,” Dodik stated.
Source: srna