The plaque in honour of convicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic should be removed by the one who ordered it and unveiled it in a solemn ceremony, and that's Milorad Dodik, said international administrator in Bosnia and Herzegovina Valentin Inzko.
Inzko spoke for Austrian ‘Der Standard’ days after the informal meeting at the UN Security Council, hosted by Russia. The host invited three top political leaders including Serb Milorad Dodik, Croat Dragan Covic and Bosniak Bakir Izetbegovic to discuss the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement, a peace treaty which ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war and contains the country's Constitution.
Izetbegovic turned down the invitation, arguing that the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be ignored in this way.
Inzko, the international community's administrator in Bosnia who oversees the civilian part of the Agreement's implementation and regularly reports to the UN on this, also attended.
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“Russia, as a permanent member state of the UN Security Council, invited for this informal virtual meeting, wishing to give a chance primarily to Dodik and Covic to present their stances that oppose by the report from November 5,” Inzko explained.
“Dodik spoke for 30 minutes. He called me and former high representative Lord Paddy Ashdown the criminals. All Security Council members criticized the glorification of war criminals, like the plaque for the war criminal Radovan Karadzic in Pale (Sarajevo's neighbouring town dominated by Serb population). Dodik proposed we go together and remove it. I don't intend to remove the plaque honouring war criminal Karadzic who was sentenced to life in prison. It has to be preceded by law changes or regulation, and then the plaque should be either replaced or removed. That should be done by the one who ordered, put and solemnly unveiled it, and that is Milorad Dodik,” he underlined.
Asked about the results of the UN informal meeting, the high representative said it never happened before during his 11-year term that all countries showed so much solidarity with him, especially the USA and Germany.
Belgian delegation encouraged the adoption of a law that would sanction the war crime and genocide denial, Inzko recalled, adding that all UN Security member states were clearly told what was happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Local politicians got a chance to discuss the law on genocide denial and concrete steps will follow,” said the foreign diplomat, who has so-called Bonn powers at disposal, which allows him to impose laws and sanction local politicians.
“I set a 6-month deadline for it (the plaque) to be removed. The next step is the travel ban for Dodik in the European Union countries,” he stressed.
