DODIK: SRPSKA WILL NOT SHAPE ITS POSITIONS BASED ON WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO PICULA

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 10 /SRNA/ – President Milorad Dodik said that Republika Srpska will not shape its policy, positions, or attitude toward its own history based on what is acceptable to Tonino Picula, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Serbia.

Dodik stressed that Picula apparently still believes that policy toward Republika Srpska can be conducted through threats and punishment. "We will not seek his permission either for our political positions or for the way we preserve our historical memory. Calling on the EU to be tougher toward one people and its legitimately elected representatives is not European policy, but a policy of pressure," Dodik said. Dodik noted that such a policy toward Republika Srpska had produced no results in the past and would not do so now either. "And if Picula's vision of European policy is to punish those who do not think like him, then the problem is not Republika Srpska, but that understanding of Europe. I understand that I am important to you and many others, since you keep talking about me. You are unimportant to me. Piculas come and go. I remain. Republika Srpska is eternal," Dodik said. Picula recently commented in the media on the final farewell to former Republika Srpska Army commander General Ratko Mladić in Belgrade.