Milorad Dodik, the President of Bosnia's Serb-majority region Republika Srpska, said he is trying to convince the Croats to join the Serbs and withdraw from the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stressing that the entity has all laws and regulations prepared to activate them and pronounce its independence. The statement sparked strong reactions among Dodik's coalition partners at the state level.

Dodik said that there is still some chance for talks and that Sarajevo could still benefit from that dialogue.

“If we make decisions alone, they will get nothing. We are offering talks without foreigners, let's see the options. If they don't want dialogue, they consciously choose uncertainty,” Dodik told Serbian ‘Politika’ daily.

He noted that Republika Srpska refuses to live in unconstitutional Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“To avoid unveiling all the details, I will tell one thing only: BiH will be functioning as long as there are three peoples within its structures. I am trying to convince the Croats to make an ad hoc withdrawal from the BiH institutions,” he said.

Dodik stressed that Republika Srpska might withdraw all its officials over the issue of the state property.

“Don't try us, I suggest you to talk to us. Don't play with property, we will take all our people back. You can try but you better don't. There are all laws, regulations and bylaws prepared in our treasury to make Republika Srpska an independent state after only an hour and a half parliament session. Don't push us into the corner,” he underlined.

Asked if the decision to cut contact with the US and UK diplomats in Bosnia and Herzegovina would cost Republika Srpska, he replied it would cost more if Republika Srpska lost its property.

“Then we would lose the state,” he concluded.

Nermin Niksic, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, the coalition partner of Dodik's SNSD at the state level, said that such statements cannot be ignored.

“I would like to remind once again that we decided to take responsibility and try to change the situation in the country,” Niksic said in response to Dodik's statement, adding that nobody should take his willingness for compromise as a weakness but as an offer for cooperation.

Niksic assessed Dodik's words as an “open threat and attack on the functioning of the institutions of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

He called on Dodik and all other coalition partners to resume what they started based on the agreement they signed, on the budget adoption and the program of reforms, so that citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina can witness positive changes.

Elmedin Konakovic, the leader of the People and Justice Party, another coalition partner at the state level, said any blockade or leaving the institutions of BiH would harm the citizens of Republika Srpska the most.