Christian Schmidt, an unelected bureaucrat, treats Republika Srpska as his personal colony, and that is why I see it as my duty to inform U.S. President Donald Trump about the injustice being done to the Serb people, said Rod Blagojevich, former governor of the U.S. state of Illinois, after meeting with President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik at the Palace of the Republic.
Responding to a question from RTRS about the political persecution of both the president of Republika Srpska and the U.S. president, Blagojevich said he is well aware of the situation President Dodik is facing, in which, as he put it, an unelected bureaucrat has taken it upon himself to persecute a legitimately elected representative of his people—Milorad Dodik.
“This is the complete opposite of what democracy should be. Over the past year, I have learned more about the situation in Srpska. I must admit, when I was a typical American, I didn’t know what was going on. The irony lies in the fact that you now have an undemocratic situation in Bosnia and Srpska, caused by NATO and U.S. influence on Dayton in 1999. That was when I was entering politics—one year after the Dayton Agreement was signed, I was elected to the U.S. Congress. At that time, I was a member of Bill Clinton’s party, which decided to intervene in Bosnia. There was never any real intention to implement the agreement in practice. Instead, everything that could be taken from the Serb people was gradually taken—through, for example, the imposition of the so-called Bonn Powers,” Blagojevich emphasized.
As an American of Serb origin, he believes he can discuss the situation in Srpska with the Trump administration, because democratic values and mutual commitments have been undermined in the region since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
“Schmidt treats Srpska as his colony. He has granted himself certain powers, and now even saying anything against him is considered a criminal act. It’s important that people are aware this is happening. It now appears, according to him, that even celebrating the Day of Republika Srpska is a criminal offense,” said Blagojevich.
He added that he believes it is his duty to inform the American people about the harm done to the Serb people and their elected president.
Source: RTRS
