The U.S. administration wants to hear the Serb side as well, political analyst Stevica Deđanski said, pointing to the presence of Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović at a reception hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump as evidence of what he sees as a changing approach toward Republika Srpska.
Deđanski argued that the international political environment is changing and that the reception Cvijanović received in the United States sends a message that Washington is increasingly willing to listen to Serb positions.
“This change is visible to anyone willing to see it. Could you have imagined this three or four years ago? Could you have imagined a direct representative of the United States and Trump visiting sites of Serb suffering in Kosovo and Metohija and Republika Srpska and speaking about Serb victims?” Deđanski said.
He claimed that Serb victims had previously received insufficient recognition in international political discourse and argued that a consistent political approach by Serb representatives had helped change that.
“We fought for this through a consistent and fair policy, and that is now gaining importance. That is why I say the Bosniak narrative can still poison relations and create problems, but its influence is now much smaller and will soon become completely irrelevant,” Deđanski said.
He also strongly criticized statements made by Chairman of the BiH Presidency Denis Bećirović and other Bosniak political representatives, describing their portrayal of Republika Srpska and Serb policies as inaccurate.
“The narrative that Serbs are to blame for everything while Bosniaks bear no responsibility, or that Serbs want separatism while Bosniaks do not, no longer carries the same weight,” Deđanski said.
According to Deđanski, both the international environment and the U.S. administration’s approach toward Republika Srpska are changing. He pointed to what he described as changes in U.S. sanctions policy toward Republika Srpska officials and the level of political engagement with Cvijanović as indications of this shift.
“This only shows that we need to continue pursuing our positions and avoid falling into the traps of politicians who still live in the past and who use hostility toward Serbs to gain votes. The world no longer has time for such warmongering rhetoric,” Deđanski concluded.
Source: RTRS
