Bosnian Serb leader accuses US' Matthew Palmer of lying

Srna

US' Western Balkans special representative Matthew Palmer continued the practice of his predecessors to report to the State Department on issues without identifying real problems and those responsible for them, Bosnian Serb Presidency member Milorad Dodik said Thursday, following Palmer's Wednesday report.

“Matthew Palmer would certainly not be able to utter the famous sentence before the Senate, which is being uttered by witnesses before the US judiciary, and say – I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and then utter everything he uttered (on Wednesday),” Dodik said, questioning Palmer's testimony before the US Senate, stating that “Milorad Dodik is a major obstacle blocking everything that would lead to progress in Bosnia.”

Dodik said Palmer's testimony before the Senate was false, because had it not been he would have to tell the Senators why the US or anyone else has to pressure Bosnian officials to form the government when this process is a usual practice in every democracy after the election.

On Wednesday, Matthew Palmer addressed the Senate saying, among other things, that all progress in the country such as the government formation or submission of Bosnia's Annual National Programme to NATO is blocked by one man – Milorad Dodik.

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“Had he told the truth why Bosnia didn't form the government one year after the election, I don't think anyone in the Senate would have believed him that one man, one republic, can stand in the way of anything of the sort, let alone in the way of progress,” Dodik pointed out. “The progress of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity and Bosnia and Herzegovina, if Bosnia's progress is reflected on the RS is in our interest, and not necessarily in the interest of the US, Russia, Turkey or any other country.”

If Palmer does not want to hear what legally elected representatives of the people of Bosnia are saying, Dodik said, it is a shame he does not listen to his President, who not long ago said that the future belongs to sovereign and independent nations, which protect their citizens, respect their neighbours and differences that make each country special and unique.

“I am not doing anything different than what US President Donald Trump said,” said Bosnian Presidency member Milorad Dodik said.