Republika Srpska president hopes for speedy collapse of Bosnia-Herzegovina

By bne IntelliNews October 16, 2012

bne -

Bosnia-Herzegovina is an artificial country and a mistake, so Serbs should not take part in it, the president of the Serbian component of the Balkan country said in a TV interview on October 15. His words provide a reminder of the instability still plaguing the country's political and economic fortunes.

"Bosnia-Herzegovina still exists because the international community is attached to the ridiculous idea of debt repayment, since they invested so much money in it,'' President Milorad Dodik told Serbia's TV B92. ''Between Belgrade and Sarajevo, I will always choose Belgrade,'' he said, adding that he hopes for the speedy collapse of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Based on the 1995 Dayton Agreement, hammered out to end the Yugoslav civil war, Bosnia-Herzegovina was cobbled together featuring two entities - the Croatian Muslim Federation and the Serbian-majority Republika Srpska - and three ethnicities: Serbs, Croatians, and Bosnian Muslims. Each entity has its own parliament and president, and are linked by an inefficient central government structure.

EU-mandated reforms prior to Bosnia-Herzegovina's European integration are being constantly held up by infighting between these ethnic populations and especially by vetoes from the Serbians, who fear losing their autonomy. "I do no wish to see the Republika Srpska live a fallacy like Bosnia-Herzegovina, because that is a whim of those who wish to impose the Dayton Agreement," Dodik continued.

"I do not think that Bosniaks (Muslims) are bad people, I have a problem with their policy that wishes to dominate, to outvote, to introduce Turkey as the dominant political force in Bosnia-Herzegovina that will determine measures and conditions for our future path," he stated.

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