CVIJANOVIĆ: STRATEGIC GOAL - GOOD COOPERATION WITH ALL COUNTRIES

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 18 /SRNA/ - The Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović said that the strategic interest of Republika Srpska should be to maintain good relations with all countries - including the United States.

"The goal, alongside Serbia and Russia, is to have good relations with the United States. That has always been my strategic objective, which I have never hidden. This is a good time to strengthen communication with the U.S.," Cvijanović said at the special session of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. She emphasized that the European Union has failed to establish a clear framework for membership requirements for Balkan states. "Republika Srpska is using its own instruments to preserve what it has. We need to withdraw certain laws, but the National Assembly will not be dissolved tonight - it will continue to adopt conclusions, reports, and decisions in line with current circumstances," Cvijanović stated. She added that the Reform Agenda is now in the hands of the European Commission. "We must shape the environment here ourselves, and whatever Europe demands, we will implement in a way that does not jeopardize our interests," Cvijanović said. She noted that the EU has abandoned some of its core values in BiH. "The EU cannot remain on the sidelines while a political process is being driven by an unappointed foreigner. That is why I do not respect the EU's approach - they have devalued their own principles in Bosnia and Herzegovina," she underlined. Cvijanović also said that she has never heard what the strategic domestic or foreign policy objectives of the SDS and the opposition actually are. "The SDS keeps losing voter support because it has failed to offer citizens any hope or strategy. We, on the other hand, are adapting to circumstances, and certain laws have served their purpose," Cvijanović concluded.