HIGHLIGHT AT BANJA LUKA FORUM THAT KEEPING SERBS IN BiH IS EXISTENTIALLY DANGEROUS

MOSCOW, May 27 /SRNA/ – The upcoming forum in Banja Luka, organised by the Gold Institute, represents an opportunity to point out that Republika Srpska is in an unfree zone, within a failed state, BiH, and that keeping Serbs in such a place is existentially dangerous, the SNSD leader said.

He noted that the forum will also address economic and other projects, adding that he will return overnight from Moscow to Banja Luka for the event, but will return to Russia again in a few days, this time to Saint Petersburg, where he will participate in an Economic Conference held under the patronage of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "That symbolically reflects our effort to maintain good relations with both sides, East and West. We simply want to present what our position is," Dodik told media from Republika Srpska in Moscow, where he is participating in the International Security Forum. Dodik stressed that participation in such international forums provides an opportunity to explain that Republika Srpska seeks peaceful understanding of its position and aims to find solutions that would not trigger any escalation of conflict. "Regardless of the fact that Bakir Izetbegović, /Elmedin/ Konaković, and some others constantly threaten to do something, we know perfectly well that they themselves have no resources and that this cannot happen… But they are not important," Dodik said. He stressed that major powers have influence, but added that increasingly more people in Europe, America, and Russia are hearing Republika Srpska’s positions as realistic and as positions that do not seek harm. "If two peoples cannot live in one state, why should anyone be forced to remain there?" Dodik asked. Dodik believes it is better to live as neighbours, with a high fence between them, because, in his opinion, that alone guarantees long-term security. "If you try to tear down the fences, you are only creating problems that could endanger our community. Through everything we are doing today in Moscow and tomorrow and the day after in Banja Luka, we are symbolically demonstrating our attempt to do this. Some will object - we do not mind at all. It may be somewhat exhausting for us, but it is certainly necessary," Dodik stated. The SNSD leader expressed satisfaction that the president of the Gold Institute, Michael Flynn, a US general and former national security adviser to Donald Trump, is bringing prominent figures to the first European Summit on Economy and Security in Banja Luka. "I am pleased they will see that Banja Luka is, in political terms, an orderly governmental and social community, with its own peace, dynamism, culture, and beauty, and that they will understand that this is exactly what we are fighting for, not for something that is not ours," Dodik said. He also noted that Bosniak politics, regardless of the political party involved, is hostile toward Republika Srpska. "They are our political and existential enemies; that is how we should view them, not as someone with whom we will try to coexist. It did not work for 70 years in the former Yugoslavia, it has not worked for 30 years in this kind of BiH. Why, then, should anyone naively believe that it will be possible in the future?" Dodik asked.