Dodik tells RTS Bosnia remains a failed project

SNSD leader Milorad Dodik told RTS on Sunday, October 11, that Republika Srpska is, as he put it, doing better today than before, while Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a “failed project” even after the general elections of October 4. For Belgrade, the key part of his appearance concerns relations with Serbia: he thanked President Aleksandar Vucic for ties that are, in his words, the best ever. The statements were carried by Srna, and RTRS reports that they came from the show “Za stolom sa Apostolom.”

What does Dodik say about the elections in Republika Srpska?

Dodik said the people in Republika Srpska have decided and are hard to manipulate. According to him, elections in Srpska are held every two years, and in twenty years SNSD has not lost a single one.

“Those who play on spin, who play on pose, and so on, disappear just the same. But to come before the people for 20 years and offer once again the policies we have pursued, and to get this kind of support, you simply cannot do that unless you are worth something,” Dodik said.

He said the opposition in Srpska has not had the strength to build anything. RTRS adds that he also addressed the new election technology, saying the scanners were planted but that the results in Republika Srpska are beyond dispute.

He also said Republika Srpska will exist for as long as the people decide:

“Had politicians decided, under pressure from the international factor, Republika Srpska would surely have been abolished by now. But we did not work that way. We stayed on the same path as the people of Republika Srpska.”

Which powers, according to Dodik, no longer exist at the Bosnian level?

Dodik said the constitutional authority of Bosnia no longer includes a Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, an army, indirect taxes or an intelligence service. Those powers, he claims, were taken from Srpska under the pretext of European integration.

“There is not much else that they have seized from us under the story of ‘European integration,’” he told RTS, adding that whenever something had to be swallowed, they tried to make it the bare minimum they could bear.

On the outcome so far he said: “What they stole, seized, put in place, and now say ‘it is done’ - nothing is done.” The essence of Republika Srpska has been preserved, he said: “We have preserved its rights, which are dominant and which decide at the level of BiH as well.”

Sarajevo, Christian Schmidt and the trial

The sharpest part of the interview concerns political Sarajevo. Dodik claims that Bosniak officials abuse their position, go to international addresses and present only their own views, and that the mentality by which BiH belongs to them has never allowed it to become a community of three constituent peoples.

“They did not allow a position to be built on anything and then taken out into the world,” he said. He added that it is they, not the Serbs, who bring BiH down: “It is not us who are pulling BiH down, we who try to say we want to be part of a shared position, but you do not allow us. And what are we left with? We have our own policies.”

He singled out the speech at the UN General Assembly. In his words, anyone who attacks Serbia, its officials, the Serb people as a whole and Republika Srpska there cannot expect the support of any Serb.

Speaking about why BiH cannot be fixed, Dodik mentioned Christian Schmidt and the court case brought against him:

“Nothing can fix it. Here they tried everything, from international intervention, to bringing in Christian Schmidt, they even organized that trial against me, because I do not respect him. And if you respect him, then you are signing a death sentence for Republika Srpska. So it is better that I have a court sentence than for there to be a death sentence for Republika Srpska. That was my approach to the fight against such efforts.”

RTRS reports that Dodik signed the verdict so that Republika Srpska would not have to.

Belgrade, Moscow and Washington

Dodik said Republika Srpska is widening its international ties, and on sanctions and alliances he said:

“We have unblocked the international sanctions. We cooperate with the new American administration, we cooperate with Russia, with Serbia we have fraternal ties, and thanks to President Aleksandar Vucic we have built the best possible ties ever.”

RTRS adds that Dodik said Republika Srpska has had understanding from Serbia, led by Vucic, for all development projects, as well as support for every local community in Srpska. No reaction from Bosniak officials to these assessments appears in the available reports on the interview.