Dodik arrives in US for MAGA rally and Mar-a-Lago visit
The SNSD leader announced his arrival with a two-word message. His schedule includes a Florida rally, Mar-a-Lago and Chicago on November 11, as talks on forming BiH authorities begin.
SNSD leader Milorad Dodik has arrived in the United States and announced it on social media with a two-word message: “I have arrived.” The trip has a Serbian side too: on November 11 he will attend the consecration of Serbian Orthodox Church buildings in Chicago. Before that, he is due at a Republican MAGA movement rally and at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
Why did Dodik go to America?
Dodik told the Srna agency he is traveling to a gathering devoted to political steps over the next two years, meant to secure progress and cooperation among all sovereigntist forces in the world, led by the policies of US President Donald Trump. According to him, the invitation to the MAGA conference in Florida came earlier, security checks have been completed, and at the rally he intends to present Republika Srpska, and what it stands for today, in the best possible light.
He also expects to meet several members of Congress and senators, as well as people who make important decisions in America. The itinerary, in outline:
- a MAGA movement rally in Florida
- a visit to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach
- on November 11, a trip to Chicago for the consecration of Serbian Orthodox Church buildings
- a return to Republika Srpska before the National Assembly of Republika Srpska begins its work
Speaking to RTRS about Mar-a-Lago and the obligations ahead, Dodik said:
“I am honored to be going to the place called Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. I will do everything I can for Republika Srpska. On November 11 I am already traveling to Chicago, where I will attend the consecration of Serbian Orthodox Church buildings, and I am returning to Srpska before the National Assembly of Republika Srpska starts its work.”
A message to Bosniaks before departure
Before leaving, Dodik also sent a message through Srna to Bosniaks, who, he says, are trying to belittle the visit. In his words, many people, especially in Sarajevo, are trying to diminish the trip, yet there is not a single Bosniak at the Florida rally. He added that the international context has changed in the meantime, and that, in his view, Sarajevo has not understood this.
“They are not where I am going, they are not at Mar-a-Lago, they are not in Miami, and they will not be. There will be some more snide comments and nothing else.”
N1 carried that statement. In the same conversation Dodik said Bosniaks should prepare for talks with Croats and with SNSD, so that, as he put it, peace in BiH is preserved and the country can function.
The trip falls in the days of talks on forming BiH authorities
The journey coincides with the start of official talks on forming authorities at the BiH level. SNSD has ten deputies in the House of Representatives and four delegates in the House of Peoples, which, according to RTRS, is its basis for being an unavoidable factor in putting together the government. The starting points it names for the negotiations are annulling the decisions of the high representatives and redefining the position of the Constitutional Court before a new Council of Ministers is formed. We wrote about those conditions when Dodik set three demands for SNSD to enter the government.
The first reactions have already arrived. Of the Party for BiH, which is not counted among SNSD’s possible partners, Dodik said:
“It expresses hostile positions toward Republika Srpska, and on that basis we cannot waste time. In any case, we will talk to others as well. Some policies will have to change.”
SDP president Nermin Niksic said his party is not a partner for such a program: “I do not think he can find partners so easily who are ready to bring down the Constitutional Court, bring down the order of BiH. SDP is certainly not that partner, and he cannot count on us or plan on that basis. Whether he will find someone else, I do not know.”
How much Dodik’s talks in America will affect the negotiations in Sarajevo cannot be seen from the sources. Only the schedule is known: the Florida rally and Palm Beach, Chicago on November 11, then a return to Republika Srpska before the National Assembly begins its work.
