DODIK: HELEZ IS A POLITICAL EXTREMIST, HIS STATEMENTS REFLECT HOSTILITY TOWARD SERBS

BANJALUKA, AUGUST 6 /SRNA/ – President Milorad Dodik said that Zukan Helez was neither a defense minister nor someone who should be speaking about security, peace and stability, but rather a political extremist who uses every opportunity to spread hostility toward Serbia, Republika Srpska and the Serb people.

"Consumed by his own poisonous hatred of Serbs, he has once again revealed the only role that truly suits him and the one he would most like to have written on his ID card - Sarajevo's minister for attacks on Serbs and Serbia," Dodik wrote on X. Dodik said that Helez's threats against Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić were not a sign of strength but rather of frustration, nervousness and deeply rooted hatred toward Serbia that, according to him, emerges from political Sarajevo whenever there is an opportunity. "It is particularly pathetic and ridiculous that he boasts about supposedly arresting the president of Serbia. Vučić is not the first Serbian president to face threats of arrest, pressure and humiliation, but such attempts have never succeeded. They have always shouted more than they were capable of acting, and nothing has changed - plenty of hatred, little wisdom and no real strength," Dodik stated. He added that, by threatening Vučić, Helez was not attacking just one individual, pointing out that the Serbian president had been among the first to offer assistance to people in the region during the COVID-19 pandemic and in other times of need. "Helez's remarks reflected the true face of the political camp to which he belongs - one that would like to discipline Serbia, humiliate Republika Srpska and determine how far Serbs are allowed to speak, move and exist. This is not an isolated statement but a clear reflection of the political mindset of part of Sarajevo, which still sees BiH as a means of confronting Serbs rather than as a community of equals," Dodik said. He argued that every statement made by Helez served as the best argument for Republika Srpska, its resilience, autonomy and strong institutions. "Whenever they believe they are strong enough, their first instinct is to threaten Serbs, arrest Serbs, impose bans on Serbs and attack Serbia. That is their political reflex and their only constant," Dodik said. He added that Helez could continue threatening, insulting, hallucinating and lying about the so-called Sarajevo safari, saying that such remarks reflected more on Helez than on Vučić. Dodik concluded that, if Helez had any sense, he would refrain from confronting Serbia, because, every such outburst only reinforces the old truth that hatred of Serbs is the only policy some in Sarajevo consistently pursue.