“I welcome the European Council’s decision to start negotiations between BiH and the EU. I thank the governments and parliaments of all member states. This decision is a recognition of all citizens and political forces that persistently advocate for strengthening mutual respect, agreement, and compromise among Serbs, Bosniaks, and Croats,” wrote Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, on the social network X.
“This decision strengthens the foundations that Republika Srpska is ready to strengthen – a Dayton and constitutionally built BiH, which equally belongs to all. Therefore, I consider today’s decision a great recognition of both myself and Republika Srpska for the policy it has led,” stated Dodik.
“The European Council’s stance that a Dayton BiH, with two equal entities and three equal constituent peoples, can be a member of the EU shows that the internal structure of BiH is not an obstacle. BiH is in many ways a ‘small EU,’ a test of its existence in the first half of the 21st century. At the heart of Europe lies a country that can only survive if it is built in the way that peace and economic prosperity after the war were built by the EU member states,” emphasizes the President of Republika Srpska.
“This path, like ours, is not always easy. It’s not simple and success is not guaranteed, but it’s guaranteed to be the only path that distances us from the tragic episodes of the 20th century. Republika Srpska is aware, through the statements of the Commissioner for Enlargement and the progress reports of the European Commission, of the key contribution it has made for today’s decision to be made,” Dodik is convinced.
Dodik emphasized that Republika Srpska will not gloat because, as he states, there are many who had assumed and wished for its disappearance today.
“Our path has its national goal – for Serbs to live and work without borders with their brothers and godfathers in the 21st century. There’s still a lot of work ahead of us in BiH. Today it was proven, and I will not give up on this, that foreigners, their commissioners, ambassadors, and the false high representative are superfluous to our relations and an insult to our peoples. Because in this year, we have done more than ever. And we would have done even more if various schemers hadn’t seen personal interests in using us in geopolitical shenanigans,” wrote Dodik on X.
Source: RTRS
