Banjaluka, September 5 – The international factor will not give up on interventionism in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska should not fall for the tales of distant perspectives but keep firmly defending its autonomy, the Constitution and constitutional solutions in BiH related to Republika Srpska, Srpska President Milorad Dodik told Srna in an interview on Saturday.
The statement by US Ambassador Maureen Cormack and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Hoyt Yee, during a briefing in Sarajevo on Friday shows that they won’t give up on interventionism in BiH, said Dodik.
“Ms Cormack and Mr Yee intentionally omitted the fact during the briefing, while talking about the Dayton Agreement, that it is an international agreement and never mentioned where it is that the Dayton Agreement is violated, in which provision, where in the Constitution, where in any relevant legal framework,” said Dodik.
“They are being cynical when they say the reforms should be implemented by the domestic forces, since everything that’s been done far has been done under a strong pressure of the international factor, the United States included,” emphasized Dodik.
“Today it is believed that the United States is very proud of the Dayton Peace Agreement and that’s why it is now surprising that lately, the publicly stated needs to change the Agreement, i.e. the Dayton-based Constitution, have come to the fore, but only for the naive.
“There are now attempts to maintain all the imposed solutions in BiH where it is simply enough to have someone come here and say that the Dayton Agreement should be violated and that everyone should accept that.
Dodik went on to add that the grossest violation of the Constitution occurred under the patronage of the international community, which committed and supported legal and political violence executed by high representatives.
“Now they would like to maintain such antidemocratic, anticivilizational and anti-legal behaviour by simply claiming that the Dayton Agreement is violated. The High Representative grossly violated the Dayton Agreement and was encouraged in it by the majority of countries that made up the Peace Implementation Council. It is understandable that the very same countries now defend as a fetish any raising of the issue of illegal behaviour by the High Representative,” said Dodik.
“It is a fact that 20 years after the war Bosnia and Herzegovina is still failing to reach a common consensus on the constitution, and it seems it may not do so in the near future either.
“To talk about changing the Constitution for the sake of some European demands and claims that Europeans must do it together with the domestic authorities seems cynical if you don’t know the reality,” he said.
The Srpska president pointed out in the interview with Srna that no country can be made by force, Bosnia and Herzegovina either, regardless of what force stands behind it, even maybe the United States.
“In any case, we should try and build a consensus without the involvement of external political pressure and on the basis of that build something in BiH that could look like a joint state,” said Dodik.
He asserts that the United Stated did a lot to stabilize peace in BiH but that it is completely false to claim that the Dayton Peace Agreement stopped the war.
“The Agreement came to life because there was a political consensus on the political system in BiH and as such, it indeed was enough to stop the war, but to claim today that it was only meant to stop the war and that it is to be changed now, this is something that, to say the least, calls for it to be challenged.”
The Dayton Agreement should be the greatest political and legal heritage of the United States and the BiH Constitution is actually a modified and adjusted constitution of the United States, he claims.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot exist if governed from the outside, and this has proved true through history, but basically it cannot survive on its own either.
“Republika Srpska cannot lightly accept some anxious statements given by certain foreigners or easily accept the claims that the Dayton Agreement is violated just because they think it is and because they are making a platform for some future action in the sense that someone else violated the Agreement,” added Dodik.
“Republika Srpska will strongly keep defending its autonomy, its constitution, the constitutional solutions in BiH regarding Republika Srpska, the voting system in BiH, and will never fall for claims of some distant perspectives, which you know how are seen by other countries where democracy is being introduced,” said the Srpska president.
Commenting on Yee’s statement that the situation in Republika Srpska is difficult, Dodik said such statements were incorrect, to say the least, adding that Srpska kept settling its obligations despite some claims that it was economically unstable.
“Yee wants to say that Srpska is in a difficult situation but he does not want to mention the floods or various conditions set by international financial institutions regarding projects here.
“Srpska does not want any kind of confrontation with the United States,” said Dodik, adding that he could not care less if US Ambassador Cormack would meet him or not.
He asserted there was a “circle of ambassadors” in BiH meeting on Fridays and making decisions about what is supposed to be done in BiH, and then, “through their subjects in Sarajevo and partly in Srpska, imposing their solutions, and building something that cannot be built at all, and that is called Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
“Someone else is to blame for your good intentions because you had an illusion – this is the message that we could hear yesterday,” concluded Dodik.
Source: SRNA
