The verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, delivered to the president of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, for his disobedience, represents a verdict against the entire Serb people, assessed Russian expert on the Balkans, Yelena Ponomaryova.
Ponomaryova stated that Dodik was convicted for failing to comply with the decisions of Christian Schmidt, who was not appointed as a high representative in accordance with the Dayton Peace Agreement, specifically Annex 10, which requires his confirmation by the UN Security Council.
She pointed out that Dodik is a protector of Serb interests and that the verdict against him was issued despite his status as the incumbent president.
Ponomaryova emphasized that German citizen Schmidt cannot be considered the high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina because the UN Security Council did not adopt a resolution confirming his appointment.
She recalled statements from Russia, particularly from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, regarding the need to abolish the position of the high representative so that Bosnia and Herzegovina could finally become an independent and sovereign country capable of deciding its own fate. However, she noted that despite these calls, the high representative still exists.
Ponomaryova explained that the decision regarding Schmidt was made by accredited ambassadors of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) in Sarajevo, rather than by the UN Security Council.
She assessed that the presence of the high representative is dictated by geopolitical external factors, primarily the EU and NATO, because Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with Serbia, represents an important strategic zone.
Commenting on the developments surrounding Dodik’s verdict for Russian Gazette, Ponomaryova, who is the head of the International Institute for the Development of Scientific Cooperation and a professor at the Department of Comparative Political Science at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, stated that the defamation of Serbs has been ongoing since the conflicts related to Republika Srpska Krajina.
This process, she highlighted, reached its peak during the work of the Hague Tribunal, whose rulings sentenced Serbs to a total of 11 centuries in prison, with 19 of the 27 arrested leaders and officials being Serbs.
Ponomaryova pointed out that postmodernism in politics has reached its climax, questioning how else one could explain that those who have lost legitimacy continue to travel the world and meet with global leaders, while others are being arrested.
Source: RTRS
