Earlier this week, Dodik said his party’s political goal was “the right of peoples to self-determination to independence.”
The United States continues to support the Dayton Peace Agreement and the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and will oppose any actions that threaten destabilization, said a spokesperson for the US State Department in response to statements by Milorad Dodik, president of the Union of Independent Social Democrats (SDS).
Earlier this week, Dodik said that his party’s political goal was “the right of peoples to self-determination and independence” and added that the Republika Srpska had friends, including the new US administration.
In response to a question from RSE about Dodik’s statement, the State Department spokesperson said that “the US continues to support the Dayton Peace Agreement and the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
“The United States will continue to use its diplomatic tools to support the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to oppose actions that introduce threats of instability. The future of Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the hands of its citizens. We encourage all leaders to focus on delivering the stability and prosperity their citizens deserve,” he said.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau also “reaffirmed US support for the country’s political stability and economic prosperity,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigot said.
Pigot said Landau and Komšić also discussed progress on shared economic priorities, including the South Interconnection gas pipeline project, which will strengthen the country’s energy security and provide access to US natural gas.
On February 9, a day after SPS candidate Sinisa Karan won the repeat vote for president of the Republika Srpska, Dodik said that “Bosnia and Herzegovina is destroyed” and that “we want the part that belongs to us.”
“The right of peoples to self-determination to independence is our political goal. And we will not give up. We believe that if it comes to returning these powers to the RS, we are ready to remain in the Dayton architecture. We will certainly not remain in it,” he said at a press conference.
Dodik pointed out that the Republika Srpska has “friends and enemies”: “Our friends are the Russian Federation, the new US administration, Israel, Hungary, Serbia, and part of Montenegro. We want to say that we are aware of our enemies. Muslims, political Sarajevo, Muslim Sarajevo are our enemies,” he continued.
The SNC chairman announced that he would very soon submit a proposal to the RS parliament calling for the return of the powers transferred under the Dayton Agreement as a “condition for any talks on Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
“This applies to the army, the border police, the intelligence service, the closure of the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the return of the fiscal system model to the competences of the RS, the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina to be created on the basis of rotations from the budgets of the entities and to have no own revenues,” Dodik concluded. | BGNES