SNSD has nominated Siniša Karan as its candidate for president of Republika Srpska in the upcoming early elections, President Milorad Dodik announced from Sochi, Russia, where he is attending the Valdai International Discussion Club at the invitation of the Kremlin. Dodik is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in two days, marking their 27th meeting.
Karan has a long professional and political career. He is known to the public as the head of the commission that organized the referendum on Republika Srpska Day. A professor of constitutional law, former interior minister, and current minister for scientific and technological development and higher education, Karan’s biography reflects his extensive experience.
President Dodik expressed confidence that Karan will receive the support of all coalition partners.
“Our proposal will be Mr. Karan, and now we need to agree on how we will proceed. We want to gather all our coalition partners around this. We will continue to pursue a responsible policy toward Republika Srpska, not Bosnia and Herzegovina, because BiH is a framework that no longer concerns us,” Dodik said.
He stressed that the cause of the early elections is the illegitimate foreigner Christian Schmidt, while the outcome reflects an opposition unwilling to commit to national unity. Dodik noted that there was even an option for the prime minister in a national unity government to come from the opposition, but Sarajevo’s interests prevailed over patriotism toward the Serb people.
“We wanted to ensure national unity on this matter, but whatever we offered, the strong ties they took on in Sarajevo and from certain foreigners outweighed any patriotism toward their own people,” Dodik said.
He added that many in the world understand this position, but not SDS or PDP, who claim consistency while showing irresponsibility.
“They calculated that we would not participate in the elections. But we are responsible toward Republika Srpska and never abandoned that commitment. Personally, I am bound to the fate of Srpska, not to the fate of a position,” Dodik underlined.
These are the views he intends to clearly convey to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Sochi on Thursday.
Dodik emphasized that this is a decisive period for global processes and that Republika Srpska must not miss the opportunity to resolve its own status. He said he will ask Putin to also raise the Balkans during talks with Donald Trump on resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
“I will ask President Putin to align Russia’s and the U.S.’s policies on the Balkans—possibly through the formation of a Balkan Commission established by Russia and the U.S., chaired by Hungary, as it could objectively guide the course of events in the region,” Dodik explained.
He warned that the involvement of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Brussels must be avoided at all costs, citing their consistently negative influence on the Balkans, particularly targeting Serbs in BiH. He pointed to European Commissioner Marta Kos, who represented only the Bosniak side, as proof of this bias.
“Every day, 24 hours, seven days a week, all year round, for decades, efforts have been directed at destroying Republika Srpska. Yet it has not been destroyed and will not be destroyed—it will only grow stronger. Republika Srpska will emerge from this even more resilient, because I bear responsibility. This shows that the function itself is not what matters most, but the commitment,” Dodik said.
Remaining in Bosnia and Herzegovina without Republika Srpska strengthened to independence is not an option, he declared. “We must not leave our children a BiH in which Serbs are humiliated and Republika Srpska plays a marginal role. That is understood by SNSD, our coalition partners, and the Serb people united around the politics of national unity,” Dodik concluded.
Source: RTRS
