ŠOLAJA: ABSOLUTE SUPPORT FOR THE PRESIDENT OF SRPSKA AND THE REFERENDUM

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 9 /SRNA/ - Russian Federation Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave full support to the legitimately elected President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, as well as to the upcoming referendum aimed at protecting the will of the people, Bojan Šolaja from the Center for International and Security Studies told SRNA.

Šolaja said that Lavrov supported holding the referendum to democratically protect the will of the people in Republika Srpska, expressed in the 2022 elections, in which Dodik was legally elected by an overwhelming majority. He emphasized that the support comes from one of the highest representatives of the state that is a guarantor of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and that it is not only support for Dodik but also for the institution of the President of Republika Srpska. He pointed out that one of the key points highlighted at today’s joint press conference by Dodik and Lavrov was the announcement of a UN Security Council session to discuss the situation in BiH, and he considers it very important that the session will be presided over by the Russian Federation. He stated that currently, some institutions in BiH, under the influence of someone who lacks legitimacy, are attempting through a staged series of events to deprive Republika Srpska of what it has democratically chosen. For this reason, he believes that support for the referendum, absolute support for the President of Republika Srpska, and support for the Dayton Peace Agreement are all very important. Šolaja said that the problem is that BiH is creating problems for itself through political Sarajevo by challenging the legitimacy of legally elected representatives in an effort to undermine the Constitution and incite a crisis. "This is a mechanism that is disastrous for BiH, and the Russian Federation, as guarantor of the Dayton Peace Agreement, sees it more clearly than those sitting in political Sarajevo," Šolaja said. He emphasized that the support from the Russian Federation is clear and unambiguous, and that it is evident that those outside BiH see the situation far more clearly than those in Sarajevo, including parts of the Western world and the U.S., who have called for dialogue and a solution to be reached by both sides and the three peoples. Šolaja also reminded that the President of Republika Srpska had previously called for dialogue, but that some were not interested in it. Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik is visiting Moscow, where he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The meeting was followed by a press conference attended by numerous Russian media outlets.