Member of Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Milorad Dodik is in St. Petersburg, where he is participating in the International Economic Forum. Dodik is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
In company with the Talibans
In Russia, Dodik found himself in an interesting group of representatives of autocratic states, so, among others, representatives of the Taliban authorities from Afghanistan are participating in the forum.
Dodik also addressed the International Economic Forum, where he continued to insult BiH.
He emphasized that he came to St. Petersburg as a representative of the Republika Srpska (RS), and that BiH is an unstable country because it is under the protectorate of the Western world. He mentioned that the RS does not allow sanctions against Russia.
Dodik also continued to glorify authoritarian regimes, mentioning Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping as the only world leaders.
And it was Erdogan’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu who cordially received and greeted Milorad Dodik at a meeting in Istanbul earlier this week.
All this clearly emphasizes who Dodik’s allies are and which model of government and value system Dodik aspires to – the autocratic one from the east, as opposed to the western liberal democracies.
Maybe Dodik is under the United States (U.S.) and British sanctions, maybe Western officials have been avoiding him for years, except when it is not an emergency, but the last meetings with top Russian officials, in the midst of aggression against Ukraine, as well as with the Turkish minister, are a sign to the West that Dodik still has an autocratic team that supports him.
He does not refuse Russia
Of course, this is a clear sign to the pro-Bosnian options that their future, both in terms of values and strategy, exists only in a firm stance with the Western allies. In this regard, SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic’s subservience to the autocratic Turkish regime of Erdogan was was disastrous for the pro-Bosnian position, since it led Western diplomats to be far more skeptical about pro-Bosnian options and their political goals.
However, there is no longer the slightest doubt that it is in this value sense that Turkey is far closer to Dodik’s policies than is the case with the Bosniak people, who are predominantly striving for Euro-Atlantic integration.
Interestingly, Dodik’s departure to Russia in the midst of aggression against Ukraine is accompanied by somewhat milder behavior at home.
Resource management
In addition, Dodik directed the usual criticism to the West and the liberal order. He accused the West of wanting to expand to the east in order to control Russia’s resources.
”Only naive could think that all this is happening out of a suddenbecause unresolved conflicts have been left for decades. Liberalism has defeated communism, but it has not defeated itself and we see it today, ” Dodik gave an analysis of international relations, Avaz writes.
E.Dz.
