FILIPOVIĆ: IT IS TIME TO MAKE DECISION ON COURSE BiH SHOULD TAKE

VIENNA, APRIL 20 /SRNA/ – Head of the Republika Srpska Representative Office in Austria Mladen Filipović emphasized the importance of today’s panel discussion in Vienna on the Dayton framework and the political reality in BiH, as it was highlighted before a large number of international partners that the closure of the OHR in BiH should be considered, and that the time has come to decide which course BiH should take.

Filipović stated that the panel discussion stressed that excuses should no longer be sought, but that concrete work is needed to find solutions for all people in BiH. He pointed out that it was also said that BiH cannot become an EU member with the OHR in place, but only as a democratic federal or confederal state. “We heard that, geopolitically, now might be an opportunity to consider this, to sit down at the table, and that perhaps it may not be necessary to involve the international factor to such an extent, as we are sufficiently democratically mature to make decisions independently and, in a way, look positively toward the future, especially in the context of Republika Srpska, whose institutions are functioning and are stronger than ever,” Filipović told the press after the panel. He assessed that now is the time to definitively decide which course BiH should take. Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Banja Luka Nina Sajić told the press after the panel that the Serb people share many values advocated by the EU – the rule of law, respect for human rights, and democracy. However, unfortunately, as she said, BiH is currently facing a struggle against a culture of dependency that has been fostered by long-term international supervision. “We are fighting against that. We are fighting, above all, with knowledge, largely through the younger population educated abroad, who participate in debates concerning the fight against the culture of dependency, which exists perhaps most prominently on the African continent,” she added. She recalled that BiH, which has its own seat at the UN, is neither fully sovereign nor are its democratically elected decision-makers able to fully exercise their political capacity without an external tutor who says what can and cannot be done. Professor at the University of Belgrade Čedomir Antić stated that a large majority in Serbia supports Republika Srpska, and that all research shows this. “I believe our first misfortune is ill-intentioned foreigners who, even in a racist manner, carry out certain forms of segregation among peoples,” Antić said after the panel in Vienna. Antić believes that the solution for Republika Srpska is universal, meaning that it has the right to secede, just as Slovenia had that right. “It would be best if we divided along political lines, although I believe that, when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija, what belonged to the Serbs must be returned to them,” Antić added.