GOGANOVIĆ: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA HAS BECOME INTERLOCUTOR, SARAJEVO REMAINS OBSERVER

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 3 /SRNA/ – The international visibility of Republika Srpska and the direct contacts of its leadership with Israel, Hungary, Russia, and the United States have caused open nervousness and political panic in Sarajevo, Aleksandar Goganović, Deputy Minister of Defence in the Council of Ministers, told SRNA.

"For years they kept repeating that Republika Srpska was isolated; today they are irritated by the fact that we are talking to countries with real international influence. Today, Republika Srpska is recognised as a serious and relevant interlocutor internationally, while official Sarajevo, faced with its own impotence, increasingly reacts nervously, without concrete answers," Goganović stated. He assessed that the Republika Srpska leadership’s direct contacts with the world’s most influential countries clearly show who is pursuing a policy of dialogue and who remains on the sidelines without real influence. Goganović emphasized that "the meetings of President Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović, Acting President of Republika Srpska Ana Tršić-Babić, and Republika Srpska officials with relevant international figures confirm that Republika Srpska is not a problem, but an interlocutor." "Republika Srpska is pursuing a serious and responsible policy, while official Sarajevo is trying to conceal its helplessness through noise, pressure, and constant complaints to the international community," Goganović stressed. He states that Republika Srpska will not give up on strengthening international relations, nor will it seek Sarajevo’s consent for what belongs to it.