Milorad Dodik, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that BiH did not ask anyone to make any special conditions and measures for it, including NATO, and pointed out that “NATO has no role in BiH and is not the guardian of its territorial integrity and sovereignty”.
Dodik, reacting to the correspondence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bisera Turkovic, and the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, assessed in his statement to Srna news agency that it was clearly another abuse.
He said that Turkovic does not have any authority in the field of defense, neither externally nor internally, and that the only competent place for communication with NATO and other countries on military matters is the BiH Presidency, which was bypassed this time.
“This is a conspiracy of the Muslim side, which is trying to ensure that it represents BiH in the only way, which, of course, is not true,” Dodik believes.
Dodik assessed that Stoltenberg himself should know this.
“And, if he doesn’t know, then he is dragged into the correspondence about it, Dodik said and pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina did not ask anyone to make any special conditions and measures for it, including NATO.”
He went on to say that the participation of the Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sifet Podzic, earlier in some consultations does not mean the decision of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“And in this regard, the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina are absolutely being ignored,” said Dodik and emphasized that this is why he is surprised when Stoltenberg talks about the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, as he says, has been drastically destroyed and called into question.
Dodik pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina did not ask neither for any additional measures, nor does it have the malignant influence they are talking about.
“There is an influence of other countries in all of this. BiH is not in any contractual relationship with NATO. There is a Reform Plan, but it is a plan of the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not a contractual relationship with the Alliance, so in this respect the claim that Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the Atlantic road is absolutely not true. That is absolutely not true,” emphasized Dodik.
Assessments on separatism
He clarified that attempts to repeat it, regardless of the specific situation on the ground, absolutely only go in the direction of imposing that situation, which, as he repeated, is not possible.
“The Presidency of BiH established the Reform Plan, and it is the only point of contact with NATO. NATO has no role in BiH, it is not the guardian of its territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Dodik.
Dodik assessed that it is obvious that NATO, in this way, is endangering it.
“Bearing in mind everything that was said in that correspondence, it is absolutely clear that they are trying to bypass the official bodies of BiH responsible for defense and that in this respect NATO is acting unilaterally together with the Muslims in BiH. That certainly cannot lead to anything good,” said Dodik.
He pointed out that the political evaluations about separatism and some other things are just unskilled platitudes in order to allegedly obtain some right “for their actions”.
“It is the same with this story about some Russian malignant influence. Everyone knows that there is no such influence. There is a relationship in which the Russian Federation is respected as much as other countries, including those that are members of NATO,” said Dodik.
He pointed out that, even if there is some influence, it is the influence, and quite malignant, of the collective West, which, as he said, instead of implementing Dayton, destroyed Dayton and the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It does not give a result
“I think that it is the destructive influence of the West and that these things can be discussed in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Dodik believes.
Dodik rejected any possibility that Turković’s letter to the Secretary General of NATO has an official character, because it is, as he says, an unofficial person who has given himself the right to communicate on behalf of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“She’s been doing it for a long time. Nothing he has done in the last two years is in favor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in favor of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but even that is not producing results. And I would ask Stoltenberg and others, who participate in such a transparent game, to take into account that this is a direct threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” stressed Dodik.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated in a letter to Turkovic that NATO “will continue to cooperate with Bosnia and Herzegovina and other international partners in order to preserve stability and promote reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced yesterday.
Stoltenberg, in response to Turković’s letter in which she “informed him about the challenges that BiH faces in connection with current events in Europe and the region”, noted that NATO strongly and unequivocally supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH, as well as the functionality of its institutions.
He believes that the conflict in Ukraine, as he says, has fundamentally undermined European security and that NATO is therefore “ready to continue supporting partners who may be exposed to malignant influence and pressure, in order to strengthen their resilience.”
“NATO is developing a set of measures, specially tailored for Bosnia and Herzegovina, in accordance with your needs,” stated the Secretary General of NATO.
