NATIONAL INTEREST CANNOT BE TRADED FOR SOME AID FROM BRUSSELS

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 24 /SRNA/ - The national interest cannot be traded for any aid from Brussels, and the problem is that Serbs, whoever is in power, will be seen as a problem in BiH, said Republika Srpska Internal Affairs Minister Željko Budimir.

Budimir pointed out in the National Assembly on Wednesday evening that Brussels and others have an agenda to grant Serbs the status of a national minority. “I love European civilization, I am a student of that civilization, but that is not the Europe where we should seek anything. There is neither nobility nor light left there,” Budimir emphasized. He also mentioned Slovenia, saying it is not a good example, as it broke up Yugoslavia, which the Serbs built. “The secession they created and the development they achieved in the former Yugoslavia came at the expense of Serbian territories and Serbian lands. At this moment, in Slovenia, there is no national minority status for Serbs who work there,” Budimir stated. He assessed that the problem for European Commissioner Marta Kos and the Slovenian president and leadership is not Milorad Dodik and the SNSD being in power, but that they see a unitary BiH, which, he says, is a problem also for Croatia, all other countries, including Brussels. “The problem is that the Serbs, whoever comes to power, will be seen as a problem in BiH. Even if /Nebojša/ Vukanović becomes president tomorrow, they will still look to have Serbs outvoted in BiH and given the status of a national minority that can be managed as they wish,” Budimir explained. He emphasized that one could argue another government might do better, but, as he stated, it would not, at least not regarding their treatment of us. Budimir pointed out that there is a neoliberal West that has imposed certain values, which are disappearing. “Thank God they are disappearing,” the minister added. He noted that the only strongholds of these values are Brussels, Berlin, and perhaps Paris, and he believes one cannot ingratiate oneself with them. “No one can be suitable if they do not follow their neocolonial approach toward this country, and there is no difference there,” Budimir said. He added that the countries with which cooperation should be sought are China, the Russian Federation, and other nations, while in the EU, there is a patriotic bloc that defends a Europe of nations, not a Europe of the EU, where free thought no longer exists. “We cannot trade the national interest for some aid from Brussels. Now that aid is six billion for what they call the Western Balkans, but in BiH, only 300 million would arrive. You would have to change your values to accept that, and that is not the right path,” Budimir said. According to him, the world is ceasing to be a unipolar phase of the American Pax Americana. “That no longer exists. We must adapt to it. That is the way for our survival,” the minister added. He says that interdependence in this world is so great that if we do not see these changes and fail to find a friend, we will not be able to survive here.