Former High Representative Lord Paddy Ashdown should be dug out of his grave and tried for what he did to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, the Serb Presidency member told N1's Amir Zukic, talking about previous decisions by international community's High Representatives who served in the country.
“The institution of the High Representative is incompatible with the EU and you have the EU's opinion that Bosnia can't move forward with it. It's not true that we have a rule of law because we have a rule of one man who ruled outside the law by using his Bonn powers,” Dodik said. “The high representative is a fraud who did so much harm to Bosnia with his Bonn powers which they used unlawfully.”
In that sense, Dodik touched upon Lord Paddy Ashdown, the High Representative who made the most interventions in Bosnia by imposing many laws, dismissing politicians who worked against the necessary reforms in the country and who opposed the strengthening of Bosnia's institutions.
“The High Representative's role is only to coordinate, suggest, attend meetings and issue warnings. The decisions they made were nothing but international crime. That Ashdown should be dug out of his grave and tried for what he did to Bosnia. (Wolfgang) Petrich too as well as this one (Valentin Inzko) with his salary worth €24,000,” Dodik told N1.
This year, Valentin Inzko, the incumbent High Representative, said he would impose the Law Against the Denial of Genocide in Srebrenica, bud Dodik said he can forget about it.
“He can take that with him to his retirement. Where's he going to publish that decision and who's going to respect it? I certainly won't. That's not a law. The High Representative doesn't have the right to make such decisions,” he stressed.
The Bosnian Serb leader even said the High representative does not have the right to comment on the agreement between political parties.
“He lied to the UN Security Council. He lied that the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), Croat Democratic Party (HDZ BiH), Democratic Action Party (SDA) and the Democratic Front (DF) are forming a coalition, but everyone knows that the DF is not there. I'm not afraid of him (Valentin Inzko). He should be afraid of me because he could lose his €24,000 salary when I flush him out,” Dodik concluded.
When asked if he respects the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the Bosnian war, and to comment on his statements that Bosnia is not a state-but that its Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska (RS) will become a state, he said these statements lack context.
If decisions are imposed, if Bosniaks continue to refuse a deal on Bosnia, if they continue to disrespect the RS and the Serb people, if the High Representative continues to act “unlawfully,” then, he said, the RS can do nothing else but go its own way.
“Ten years ago, people were afraid to speak of this, but now we can speak freely. Ten countries would support us. I'm not going to say which ones, because I don't trust you. We're not going to do it violently,” Dodik pointed out. “But I will say this – the secession story is not our priority, we're not conducting some secret operations, were not separatists. Bosnia was the one who took to separatism from Yugoslavia, but the Bosniaks will say otherwise.”
The main Bosniak problem is not the NATO, but their treatment of Croats
Bosnia's NATO accession is a hot topic in the country. While Bosniaks and Croats support it, Serb politicians are openly against it.
“The EU clearly said that NATO membership is not a condition for accession to the Union. The NATO story came out of nothing and it was presented as the most important thing. Back in 2003, the RS National Assembly concluded that the NATO path is something we should do, but many things have changed ever since. The Annual National Programme (ANP) is treated as a membership document and we don't want that membership,” Dodik told N1's Zukic. “If we were to become a NATO member state, we would have to provide double the funds for defence, than we do now. That would go against entity budgets which means the RS would have to provide a third of the budget which is unacceptable.
Bosniak leader Bakir Izetbegovic is conditioning the formation of the Council of Ministers with the adoption of the ANP, while Dodik is demanding the formation of Bosnia's Council of Ministers as a precondition for the formation of authorities, but the Croat leader, Dragan Covic insists on the Election Law change.
“The main Bosniak problem is not NATO but their oppression of Croats. I think the ANP is just a cover story for this. This is clear. That's what Bosniaks want. If Dodik is the problem, why don't they form the government in the Federation entity, in four of its cantons, why do they have problems in cantons where they formed the government,” Dodik asked.
When asked if he would resign in case his party, the SNSD, fails to join the State-government coalition, he said definitely not!
“Now that I'm in, I won't resign any time soon. Besides, it's almost impossible to resign now that the parliament is not working and we can't elect a new Presidency member. If I wanted to harm the Presidency's work, I would resign and they wouldn't be able to decide on anything with just two members,” he noted.
