STEVANDIĆ: IMPOSING SANCTIONS ON DODIK IS HUMILIATION EVEN FOR GENTLEMEN IN SLOVENIA

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 13 /SRNA/ – The Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, Nenad Stevandić, said that imposing sanctions on the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, is also a humiliation for the “gentlemen in Slovenia,” because no one in Republika Srpska, including Dodik, has ever acted against the Slovenian people, their state, or its officials.

“I do not believe that Slovenia and the Slovenian people, or even these officials, imposed the sanctions,” Stevandić emphasized. He believes that it was done by “some neoliberal Brussels axis that supports the de-sovereignization of peoples in BiH, the removal and elimination of politicians who possess sovereignty, who are the result of the will of the people, and who are not in line with the Brussels autocracy of some, not all, European officials who are more part of the bureaucracy than of sovereign peoples and states.” “We must show the gentlemen in Slovenia that we understand this is a humiliation for them as well, because no one in Republika Srpska has ever done anything against the Slovenian people, their state, or officials,” Stevandić told reporters in Banja Luka. He noted that Dodik had called for the protection of their companies’ interests, to prevent any retaliatory actions, which he described as a lesson in democracy for everyone. Stevandić said that a commission will be formed to determine conflicts of interest in government bodies, as prescribed by the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska. “This is simply proof that we function as a democratic society and a rule-of-law state,” Stevandić said regarding the decision of the Constitutional Court, which found that the vital national interest of Bosniaks was violated in the formation of the commission to determine conflicts of interest in government bodies. He pointed out that the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska stated that the laws on the referendum and the police are legal. “What the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska challenged, it did so on the merits, and we will address those issues. We are not at fault that too few Bosniaks apply for certain competitions, but now we will try to motivate more of them, and we will respect the decision of the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska because it is based on law and factual circumstances,” Stevandić emphasized. He noted that, by contrast, the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH does not respond to requests for interim measures from Republika Srpska, as requested by Dodik and his defense, for more than two years or two to three months. “And when Bosniaks submit a request, as happened five days ago, they receive an interim measure within two days. They operate like assembly line. They churn out rulings on demand for Bosniaks and [Christian] Schmidt, practically day and night, while when Serb rights are being protected, they are not interested at all, putting those cases in drawers and under the rug,” Stevandić said. He emphasized that Republika Srpska cannot participate in filling positions in that court “until it operates according to the law and stops inventing statutes and rules for itself, which is unacceptable in any democratic country in Europe.” “But in BiH, it is considered acceptable,” Stevandić added.