Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik said on Friday he would contact US President Donald Trump to brief him about the work of his administration in Bosnia, calling their actions "a charade."
Dodik's statement comes as a response to the letter that some foreign ambassadors in Bosnia, including a US Embassy's official, sent to the Serb officials, expressing concern over their attendance at a meeting in Istocno Sarajevo last week, where they reiterated the intention to block the decision-making process in the state-level institutions over a court decision.
A screenshot of the letter was first published on Thursday by RTRS, the public broadcaster in Bosnia's Serb-majority region, Republika Srpska (RS), but the authenticity of its content was confirmed for N1 by all of its signatories.
“We remind you that civil servants and other officials, in particular heads of independent institutions at the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) level, while performing their professional duties, must be independent from political interference and refrain from any actions which may question their impartiality and consequently undermine the very independence of the institutions they represent,” said the note signed by EU ambassador, Johann Sattler, Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kathleen Kavalec, and Charge d'Affaires at the US Embassy to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ellen Germain.
Related news
“You are representatives of the state of BiH, not representatives of the RS to the state. As a state-level official, you must represent all citizens of BiH, regardless of their or your ethnic and political background, or place of residence,” the ambassadors warned.
But, the leader of the Serb main party, the SNSD, and the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency, strongly disagreed.
“No matter how it might look like, maybe even ridiculous, I will try to write and will write a letter to the US President and inform him about the work of his administration. I heard him speaking at the UN General Assembly where he said he respected the sovereignty of the states. What is this, what kind of charade this is,” said Dodik, following a meeting of his SNSD executive board.
“They loosened up here too much, they think they can do anything they like. They're ignoring the fact I'm a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that, in terms of communication, I can reach their bosses sooner than they think,” he stressed, adding he would also ask European Union's High Representative Josep Borell if ambassador Sattler's “threats to Serb employees are an EU policy.”
“Nobody has to worry in RS, peace will not come to jeopardy. I fully guarantee you the peace and stability of RS,” said Dodik, adding that the Serb officials will stay consistent to the decisions and conclusions that RS institutions passed.
Republika Srpska National Assembly (RSNA) adopted a decision last week, instructing the state-level officials from that entity to halt any decision-making process until adoption and implementation of a law that would remove foreign judges from the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The instruction came days after the Constitutional Court ruled that an RS law which defines all farmland in Republika Srpska the entity property – is unconstitutional.
The court decision sparked strong reactions among the Serb leadership, which further led them to block the decision-making process at the state level until their demand is met.
