Former US ambassador: Dodik continues to call for secession, are people paying attention?

"It is worth asking how comments by the former president of Republika Srpska such as, 'Serbs must renounce BiH', '[BiH] is an impossible country and should not exist', 'We cannot stay together in BiH, that is an illusion,' which essentially challenge BiH’s territorial integrity – the core American interest in BiH – and amount to calls for RS separation (secession by another name), constitute a change in approach after the lifting of U.S. sanctions. And this was just one interview. Similar comments have been made many times over the last several weeks. Are people paying attention?," the US diplomat has warned.

His statement triggered opposing comments. While some blame Western countries for the constitutional system in BiH, others believe they have not done enough, and still others blame the main Croat political party HDZ and the "mild attitude" towards the party's leader.

Murphy served as the United States ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2022 to 2025, and during his term Dodik repeatedly made a series of insults against him, which cause harsh criticism on Murphy's part.