President Milorad Dodik said that a significant part of the diplomatic corps in Sarajevo had once again decided to interfere in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s internal affairs by commenting on the elections, new voting technologies and election results, telling them to stay out of elections in Republika Srpska.
Dodik asked who, and under which convention, had given ambassadors the right to express opinions about elections in a country where they are guests.
- Nobody. Never. No convention. This is not a legal act – it is merely the opinion of several embassies. You could hardly wait to speak out. As soon as the ballot boxes were closed, there you were. And those quickest to react are precisely those whose countries rejected electronic voting or whose constitutional courts prohibited it – Dodik said.
In a post on X, he cited Germany, where he said the Constitutional Court ruled such a system unconstitutional in 2009, as well as the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway and Japan, which abandoned similar systems. He added that the United Kingdom rejected them, while Canada continues to vote on paper and count ballots manually.
- We are being lectured about elections in Republika Srpska by countries that rejected the same system themselves. That is not concern. That is arrogance – Dodik said.
He also accused Christian Schmidt of repeatedly intervening in the Election Law and criticized foreign ambassadors for defending the procurement and introduction of new election technologies.
- Stay out of elections in Republika Srpska. If you think this system is so wonderful, go to your own countries and defend it there. That is where your job is – Dodik said.
According to Dodik, the entire process was designed to challenge Serbian electoral victories.
- Once again, we demonstrated a lesson in democracy – peacefully, orderly and with a clear result. You have shown that you cannot accept it – he said.
Dodik added that foreign representatives would now have to wait to speak with the winners.
- We defeated you and outsmarted you once again. This is not about election technologies. This is an attempt to make Serbs, in their own country, ask for permission to govern in their own home. It will not work. We won. And we will win every time – Dodik concluded.
The ambassadors and heads of mission of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a joint statement in which they assessed the introduction of new election technologies as an important step forward for democracy in BiH.
Source: Glas Srpske
