The head of the SNSD caucus in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Sanja Vulić, emphasized that a few USAID grants cannot buy off Serb municipalities and cities, pointing out that the Serb people are not for sale and that they have seen through the intentions of the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo.
“The behavior of some individuals from the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo follows a pattern of bullying. They hit, they torment, and then they say ‘sorry, I care about you.’ Typical abuse, humiliation, and interventionism,” Vulić said to RT Balkan.
She stressed that Republika Srpska and the Serb people respect the Dayton Agreement and expect the other side to do the same; otherwise, there’s nothing to discuss, as they will not be slaves “for a fistful of dollars.”
“We are firmly committed to peace and stability, but we will not be slaves to anyone. When the U.S. Embassy starts respecting the Dayton Agreement, we will have something to discuss,” Vulić said in response to the decision by ten local communities in Srpska to withdraw from cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Commenting on the U.S. Embassy in BiH’s claim that President Milorad Dodik pressured members of his party in local communities to withdraw from cooperation with USAID, Vulić stated that Dodik has no need, nor does he tell anyone how to shape local policies.
“The people see everything,” Vulić added, noting that the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo clearly demonstrates through its actions what it wants in BiH, which is the violation of the Dayton Agreement and the creation of a unitary BiH.
The mayor of Laktaši, Miroslav Bojić, stated that there was no pressure on his local community to withdraw from cooperation with USAID, but rather that the money from the project was not needed.
“Although we applied to be part of the project, we later determined through communication with the project’s representatives that it largely overlaps with the activities of the MEG project, implemented by UNDP in BiH, in which we are a partner community, as well as with activities conducted by the Chamber of Commerce of Srpska through the BFC certification of cities and municipalities. Laktaši is currently undergoing the recertification process,” Bojić said.
He emphasized that Laktaši has made progress through this project and, in addition to the planned grant funds, received an additional grant as the local community that manages local development best.
“In order to avoid duplicating activities and repeating something we’ve already done, we decided not to participate in the Local Governance Assistance Project, as it only provides technical support to local communities, which we are already receiving through several programs and projects,” Bojić told RT Balkan.
Source: RTRS
