President of Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, has threatened to withdraw support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s(BiH) European path, also stating he expects a strong ally in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the future and hopes the new United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump will lift sanctions on him. Dodik even asserted that RS now has no reason to back down before anyone, adding that “Sarajevo will have to beg if it wants to get anything soon.”
Commenting on Trump’s victory and his administration, Dodik said, “They know very well how things were before the election and how we acted after.”
“I must say we have high expectations, no matter what those troublemakers in Sarajevo say. I see their main concern now is to mock the idea that Dodik expects the sanctions will be lifted, etc. I didn’t say they’ll be lifted immediately, but as a person, I have the right to hope it will happen. The sanctions imposed were completely misguided, with no basis in fact or evidence. The world is already changing, and after January 20th, it will be felt even more. We are preparing to establish ourselves in these new circumstances. We’re not foolishly waiting for everything to change to suddenly give in to those laments from Sarajevo. We’re not interested. Either you’ll talk on equal footing, or not at all. As for the European Union (EU), everything seems confused – reading the analyses from the neoliberal promoters, they seem lost and unsure of what to do. Now it’s a geopolitical issue that we haven’t been admitted to the EU. Why tell us that? You admitted Romania and Bulgaria, and we’re miles ahead in terms of EU accession readiness. What’s going on? To whom are you lecturing about values? All European values have been trampled and lost. Why do you think you’re the only destination? After three years of constant obstruction and silence over what Christian Schmidt (High Representative) and Michael Murphy (U.S. Ambassador) have done in BiH, how do you suddenly expect to have credibility? Tomorrow, I’ll discuss this with a number of ambassadors in Sarajevo,” Dodik said yesterday.
He then stressed he’s open about trying to “establish our position.”
“To the same degree as Murphy’s position and that of his so-called ‘democratic’ party, which was actually anti-democratic in every way. We just want to remedy what they’ve lost, nothing else. If ‘the Muslims’ aren’t ready to discuss a new BiH in the next six months, they won’t have any BiH,” Dodik continued.
He believes that everything will be easier now that Trump, not Kamala Harris, has won.
“If Kamala had won, it would have been harder for me; now it’ll be easier. Just as they hounded Trump in the U.S., they’re hounding me here. The common denominator is that warped version of democracy. I don’t need to meet with him or hear anything, but if he fights against such a flawed system, so will I. They’d really hurt me most if they ended this process now,” he added.
Dodik was asked about today’s session of the BiH Council of Ministers and the Growth Plan that was supposed to be on the agenda but ultimately wasn’t.
“I have no idea it’s being held. I don’t have to know about every meeting. To me, it’s become meaningless; those meetings bring nothing anymore. The reform plan included about 113 points, with two or three on which we’ve been working with the Federation of BiH (FBiH) for a long time. It’s been agreed with Brussels. Then it went to the coordination mechanism, and three SDA-led cantons withdrew their consent. So what am I supposed to do now? Let the SDA have its way?” he asked.
He then launched a series of insults toward the EU.
“That sleazy EU business where they send money and we’re supposed to lose all dignity – that won’t happen anymore. Thanks for the money, keep your growth plan, whatever you want. We’re not without means to solve these problems. We’ve been granted funds outside the EU for projects in RS amounting to one and a half billion euros. And yet, they pressure us and won’t let us operate freely because it involves major European banks that are exclusively European. We’ll find a way to inject that money into RS. Sarajevo urgently needs to change its approach. They’ve been aggressively targeting us until now. All they talk about is ‘Dodik this, Dodik that…’ What have they achieved with that? If you don’t start asking nicely soon, you won’t get anything. Now, I have no reason to bow to their demands. I’m full of confidence, and you’ll see how things go. We won’t even stick to what we agreed before; we’ll make it even tougher. There’s no reason to act otherwise. The Council of Ministers won’t do anything with the Growth Plan because it lacks SDA approval. RS has survived the toughest times under that wretch Murphy. I’m just waiting for him to blow away. I survived him. RS now has no reason to back down before anyone,” Dodik claims.
He concluded with a warning that RS may “very soon” abandon the EU narrative altogether.
“What EU? It can’t even handle itself,” Dodik concluded.
He also expressed pride in Viktor Orban’s persistence in his policies, now expecting Orban’s approach to become dominant in the Union, riding on the wave of Donald Trump’s victory, N1 writes.
