SLOVAKIA IS IMPORTANT PARTNER, JOINING THE EU ONLY WITHOUT SCHMIDT AND FOREIGN JUDGES

ANTALYA, MARCH 2 /SRNA/ - After a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Juraj Blanar, Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik said that it is important to set a date for the start of negotiations for BiH's entry into the EU at the end of March, but that the issue of foreign judges in the Constitutional Court of BiH and the illegal /high representative/ Christian Schmidt must be resolved.

"I said that if that illegal /high representative/ Schmidt makes any decision about elections, we will pass our law and carry out our elections. I said that if he makes any decision regarding property, we will make a decision about independence," Dodik said after the meeting in Antalya, which was also attended by the Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović. He feels that the start of negotiations should also bring significant changes to the functioning of BiH because this situation is unsustainable. "The path to the EU is incompatible with the illegal /high representative/ Schmidt and the illegal structure of the OHR. The Venice Commission also said that and that is also part of the 14 priorities that have been put before BiH. Of course, someone separated some other issues, but that will be on the agenda. It is unrealistic to expect that we will enter the negotiation process with these structures in place," Dodik told reporters. He emphasized that Republika Srpska must be visible in the EU accession process. "We are not ready to move towards the EU and reduce the strength of Republika Srpska. It must be strengthened, visible and in accordance with the Constitution," said Dodik. He feels that the path to the EU is a camouflage because Brussels is only setting new conditions, but retains Schmidt and foreign judges. "I don't think we will move forward, regardless of the EU's decision. If Schmidt and the foreign judges remain, we see no point in negotiating. They have reduced financial aid anyway and we have to look for other alternatives. We have already done some things that we will talk about later," pointed out Dodik. He noted that Srpska is not as optimistic about the EU as it was ten years ago, pointing out that demands are constantly being made that even full members would not be able to fulfill now. "It is a hypocritical approach because we need to deliver everything to them. The conditions have been tightened and they have gone into the sphere where the members would not be able to fulfill them," said Dodik. When it comes to the economy, Dodik emphasized that Srpska has good cooperation with Slovakia and highlighted "Celex" as one of the successful companies. "The goal is to save the project of introduction of gas into Republika Srpska. I calculate how much we lost because the Muslims blocked that project, and what benefits Republika Srpska would have because it would have the cheapest gas in Europe that it could offer to Europe," said Dodik. Dodik reminded that his interlocutor today is a member of the Government of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, whom he endorsed before the elections.