DODIK DEDICATES AWARD TO SERB PEOPLE AND SRPSKA

ELGIN, MAY 1 /SRNA/ – President Milorad Dodik said that he dedicated the Leadership and Democracy Advocacy Award to his mother Mira, the Serb people and Republika Srpska, which he described as proud and committed to freedom.

"Republika Srpska, where I come from, is a small but proud political community. I come from the Serb people, who fought for 17 years in the last century and endured sanctions - from Russia, Europe, and the United States", Dodik said in his address at Judson University, which presented him with the prestigious award for the courage required for leadership and commitment to national sovereignty and democratic principles. Dodik emphasized that Serbs are a freedom-loving people who understand what it means to fight for it. "We know that freedom is a sacred word for every nation. If a people are not free, then they are not truly a people. Many have died with the word 'freedom' on their lips, believing they were fighting for a better life - sometimes through wars, sometimes through revolutions, and today through the struggle for democracy - the right of people to decide for themselves and govern their own affairs, without conditions, while granting that same right to others who are different", Dodik stated. He pointed out that he comes from Republika Srpska, founded on a multiparty system, democratic elections, and a parliament elected by the free will of the people. Dodik stated that Republika Srpska has existed since 1992 and was created following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. "Every day during those years we woke up with the thought of how to defend our entity, our Orthodox faith, our children and our schools", he said. He reminded that the former Yugoslavia broke apart because others sought their own states, and that the administration of then-US President Bill Clinton allowed it. "The Clinton administration decided that Yugoslavia would break up, but then said - you must now live in BiH - Serbs, Croats and Muslims", Dodik stated, adding that Serbs wanted to live freely but that this was not possible.