KOŠARAC: THE MORE THEY ATTACK DODIK, THE LESS THERE IS BiH AND COMMON TOPICS

BIJELJINA, SEPTEMBER 5 /SRNA/ - The Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations in the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac stated today that Republika Srpska has absolutely no need to please Sarajevo and that it pursues its own adequate foreign policy.

"Republika Srpska has contributed its credibility, constitutional sovereignty, and everything else to Dayton BiH, and whether this is to the liking of Konaković, Komšić, or Bećirović means nothing to us. Their criticism only shows that we are on the right path," Košarac emphasized, commenting on the protest note sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Elmedin Konaković, to the Embassy of Hungary in Sarajevo following the visit of Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik to Budapest. He emphasized that Dodik is the legitimately elected President of Republika Srpska, as an expression of the will of its citizens; however, it is evident that Sarajevo, together with part of the international community, is attempting to dismantle the electoral will of the people of Srpska. Košarac sent a message to political Sarajevo that "that's not going to fly" and stressed that Republika Srpska has stable institutions and that its actions are fully in line with the Constitution. "The more they attack President Dodik, who is a credible politician and the expression of the electoral will of the citizens of Republika Srpska, the less there will be of BiH, and the fewer common topics that we can discuss," Košarac emphasized. He pointed out that some politicians, who refuse to talk with the legitimately elected representatives of Republika Srpska and do not respect its fundamental positions, "run around Europe and the world crying like children," complaining about Srpska. "Konaković writes protest notes, but what is he actually doing abroad? He is representing his own and Bosniak Muslim interests, not to mention those various resolutions that were a classic ploy orchestrated by him and others like him," Košarac said. According to him, even people in Europe are aware of what kind of policy Konaković and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Council of Ministers are pursuing. "This is a classic parochial politics that cannot go beyond the banks of the Miljacka, let alone any further," Košarac said. The President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik met yesterday in Budapest with Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Hungarian Minister of Culture and Innovation Balázs Hankó. Szijjártó expressed support for holding a referendum in Republika Srpska, stressing that it is the people who choose who will lead them.