I will not speculate on what the United States will do in the future in response to continued anti-Dayton activities. If [Republika Srpska entity President] Milorad Dodik thinks that the USA will sit idly and watch as he dissolves the country and leads it into conflict - he is wrong, said Michael J. Murphy, the US Ambassador to BiH in an interview with FTV. Pročitaj više

Asked how to stop Dodik's constant secessionist threats and anti-state activities, he repeated the position that the US supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and multi-ethnic character of BiH.

“We are here partly to defend the Dayton Peace Agreement and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The constitution is very clear that it is a single, sovereign state consisting of two entities and three constituent peoples and others. The Republika Srpska (RS) is an entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so it has no right, that is, the constitution does not provide for it to secede,” Murphy explained.

He noted that the USA has been clear so far that it is ready to respond to activities threatening the territorial integrity of BiH and the state of BiH.

The Ambassador pointed out that the Dayton, above all, ended the war, a terrible tragedy, which is very significant. It also laid the foundations on which BiH can be upgraded, he said.

According to Murphy, for progress to occur, political leaders need to do their job much better, to work for the common good, based on consensus and compromise.

“Nowhere in the Dayton Agreement does it say that political leaders should steal, or that they should use inflammatory rhetoric, that they should practice the politics of division, or that they should put their narrow financial interests before the interests of the citizens of BiH. The reason we haven't seen the progress we all wanted to see here – is because of decisions made by political leaders. They bear the responsibility for the current situation when it comes to democracy and the economy,” said Murphy categorically.

He also commented on President Vladimir Putin's statement that the Russian assessment of the situation in BiH fully coincides with the views of the RS leadership.

“The USA has been and remains BiH's strongest partner and its greatest friend. In the past 30 years, the centre of our engagement has been the territorial integrity, sovereignty and multi-ethnic character of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The focus of our engagement has not changed and will not change because of statements made by local political actors or someone from another country such as the President of Russia. To some extent, what Putin said today is not new. The Russian Embassy here made similar statements about the situation in BiH. Those statements are wrong, inaccurate, and based on wrong information and legal fantasy. And that doesn't change because it's being said in Moscow or in the Embassy here,” Murphy added. “We take territorial threats to the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina very seriously.”

On a scale of 1 to 10, he rated the struggle of BiH authorities against corruption with 2 or 3.

“It’s not good. Looking at the international indexes, Bosnia and Herzegovina is getting worse and worse grades. Politicians too often put personal financial interests before the interests of the country or the voters,” he said.