United States (U.S.) Assistant Secretary of State for Europeanand Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien, better known in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) as the “father of the Dayton Agreement”, held a media briefing at the beginning of this year in which, in addition to the topics of Ukraine and the upcoming elections in Europe, he also touched on the topic of BiH.
The former right hand of Madeleine Albright, and today the assistant of another experienced expert on the Balkans, Antony Blinken, has a very clear and direct message for Milorad Dodik.
“Almost half of its (BiH) population does not live in the country. This is a crisis. This is what politicians need to address. And I think instead we see some politicians who lack bread or ideas, so they offer a circus. And especially, Mr. Dodik, with his Republika Srpska (RS) Day on January 9th, is trying to divert attention from issues that I hope the administration will be able to address during the next year if we pay attention to what is really important. So, just one more comment about January 9th.I was in Dayton,” said O’Brien.
As he added, the original Dayton came out of his pen, and the answer to Dodik’s threats must be given by the voters.
“I was the person responsible for working with the Bosnian parties on the drafting of their Constitution. So I know what the original Dayton was. It came from my pen. The idea of secession was then explicitly rejected in the original Dayton. It is nonsense and unconstitutional. There is no benefit from such a request by Dodik. What we want to do is focus on ensuring that the institutions of government function as designed and that political leaders are clearly held accountable for performance or failure. And honestly, I think that the answer to this must be given to him by the voters of BiH and RS,” said O’Brien, N1 writes.
E.Dz.
