The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, stated that Srpska is not asking for anything that does not belong to it, but it will not give up what is guaranteed to it by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dayton Peace Agreement.
In an interview with Russian agency TASS, Dodik emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina can function only through sincere dialogue among legitimately elected representatives of all three constituent peoples and without foreign interference or arbitrary impositions.
“Republika Srpska wants to live as agreed in Dayton. If that is not possible, then coexistence side by side is the only realistic alternative. Republika Srpska is peaceful, but firm,” Dodik stressed.
He pointed out that Republika Srpska, despite all pressures, remains committed to peace, dialogue, and respect for international law and obligations.
“However, we will also firmly defend the constitutional rights, competences, and dignity of Republika Srpska and the Serb people,” Dodik said.
He stated that the institutions of Republika Srpska have been consistent in protecting and implementing the Dayton Agreement from the moment it was signed and that on this foundation, Republika Srpska has been building a principled policy of peace, stability, and cooperation for the past 30 years.
“Unfortunately, over the past three decades, we have witnessed persistent, systematic, and insidious attempts to dismantle the Dayton structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosniak political elite, with support from parts of the international community, continuously works on unitarizing the state, denying the constitutional position of Republika Srpska,” Dodik emphasized.
He reminded that Republika Srpska was established in 1992 as an expression of the historical, democratic, and political will of the Serb people, and that the Dayton Peace Agreement reached in 1995 was a compromise that not only ended the war but also defined the constitutional and legal organization of the state union of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“It is therefore clear that Bosnia and Herzegovina is neither unitary nor monoethnic, but a complex state union composed of two entities and three constituent peoples. Republika Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina is not an administrative unit; it is a constitutional category,” Dodik noted.
Referring to the French-German non-paper, Dodik said it is a political pamphlet that does not reflect the reality of Bosnia and Herzegovina but is an attempt to create a new platform for stripping Republika Srpska of its powers—something Srpska will not accept.
Dodik stated that Republika Srpska resolutely rejects any initiative aimed at unitarizing Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, imposing solutions outside the will of the constituent peoples and undermining the Dayton balance.
“It is concerning that Western countries, which present themselves as guarantors of peace and stability, are participating in the drafting of such a paper, ignoring the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and proposing solutions that are directly contrary to the Dayton Agreement. Republika Srpska will not accept any document that is not the result of dialogue among legitimate domestic actors and that attempts to suspend the will of the Serb people expressed through elections,” Dodik said.
He emphasized that the Dayton Peace Agreement is an international treaty that can be changed only with the consent of all signatories—not through informal papers and pressure from embassies.
“Republika Srpska remains committed to peace, dialogue, and cooperation with all, but at the same time it clearly states: our political will is not up for negotiation, nor is it subject to colonial governance,” Dodik stressed.
Dodik concluded that the non-paper is merely one in a series of maneuvers by leading EU countries, which shows that even 30 years after Dayton, they have learned nothing about Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“It merely reaffirms the practice of foreign powers interfering in the internal affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, without respecting the constitutional structure of the country and without consulting legitimately and legally elected representatives of the peoples,” Dodik said.
Source: RTRS
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