Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik told N1 on Thursday that the country’s top international official is “unnecessary,” and that his opinion is not important.
The statement came after the High Representative, Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko, criticised the leadership of the Serb-majority part of the country, Republika Srpska (RS), for talking about secession and presenting the semi-autonomous region as a state.
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The High Representative of the international community is charged with overseeing the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended Bosnia’s war. He submitted his biannual report to the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
“As if it was important what he is saying,” Dodik said, dismissing Inzko’s report and calling it a “farce.”
Inzko has no support and plays no role in Bosnia, he said, adding that the Austrian diplomat was just trying to justify his high salary in front of the UN.
The High Representative should “disappear” from the country as “there is no destabilisation, violence or anything else in Bosnia,” he said.
Dodik also spoke about details from the Brdo Brijuni process summit which is taking place in Tirana, Albania.
The Brdo Brijuni process is an initiative which Croatia and Slovenia initiated in 2013 with the aim of accelerating the region’s path towards the EU.
Dodik said that he was satisfied with the meeting and that it was a “realistic discussion about problems” such as border issues between Bosnia and Serbia and the issue of Croatia building the Peljesac bridge across Bosnian waters, which Bosniak politicians object to.
“My stance is that Croatia should finish it if it doesn’t endanger Bosnia and that the guarantees will not damage Bosnia’s interests,” he said.
“There was a chance for us to present the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Dodik said.
“We have no government for six months already. Someone is stealing away the mandate from the people because they believe other things are priorities,” he said, referring to the failure of the parties which won the election last October to agree on a new government.
Bosnia’s Government – called the Council of Ministers – has not been formed yet mostly because the Bosniak member of the tripartite Presidency refuses to greenlight the proposed prime minister because the candidate is opposed to the country's path towards NATO membership.
Bosnia has previously pursued NATO membership but in recent years Bosnian Serb politicians have changed their mind and the next candidate for the prime minister comes from Dodik’s party which is strongly opposed to membership in the alliance.
“The people have six months ago voted and we are ignoring their will. We are a country in a deep stagnation. There is no parliament, no parliamentary commissions,” the Bosnian Serb leader said.
“The priority of all elections is to constitute the government and that brings about legitimacy,” he said, stressing that “there will be no MAP (Membership Action Plan, a step towards NATO membership),” but adding that cooperation with NATO within the framework of existing mechanisms is “not disputable.”
He said that the discussion at the summit on what he called the biggest regional problem, the relations between Pristina and Belgrade, were “interesting.”
“(Kosovo President Hashim) Thaci mentioned Republika Srpska, saying it is an unacceptable solution for Kosovo, and I answered that Republika Srpska could be a good example for resolving the relations in a conflicted multi-ethnic society and that he should not speak about it that way,” Dodik said, referring to a possible creation of a Serb-majority territorial entity within Kosovo as a precondition for Serbia to recognize Kosovo’s independence.
Dodik said he told Thaci that any mention of integration of Kosovo and Albania is “unacceptable.”
“What would have happened if I would have come out and said that I have agreed on the integration of Republika Srpska and Serbia with Vucic?” he asked, adding that any type of discussion of Kosovo’s status without Serbia is unacceptable.
