DODIK: SERBS VIEWED TRUMP AS CHANCE FOR DEFENSE OF TRUTH

ELGIN, MAY 1 /SRNA/ – President Milorad Dodik stated that Serbs from Republika Srpska saw in current US President Donald Trump the emergence of new processes and an opportunity to fight for the truth.

"The world of freedom is a world of rights. The fact that this can happen here today, that Milorad Dodik, persecuted by the Biden administration, comes to America and receives this prestigious award. Did I expect it? I did not. Did I dream of it? I did not. Because it is beyond any dream. That is why I thank you for this award," Dodik said in an address at Judson University, which presented him with the Leadership and Democracy Advocacy Award. Dodik noted that Serbs did what they could to support Trump's victory in both his first and second terms. "All along, we did not want to be subordinate to Muslims in BiH. Former US President Joseph Biden asked us to submit, and since we did not want to, sanctions were imposed on us", Dodik said. Dodik pointed out that those who seek to take away freedom first target the truth. "When you are denied the right to fight for the truth, you are also denied the right to fight for freedom," Dodik said during his speech at Judson University in Chicago, where he is to receive the World Leaders Forum award for leadership and democracy. He reminded that all senior officials of Republika Srpska were sanctioned during Biden's administration. "My daughter and my son were also sanctioned. Imagine, sanctions were imposed on my daughter and my son because they support their father. It would have been easier had they not written that. The USA even imposed sanctions on a restaurant in Banja Luka, claiming it was a threat to US national interests," Dodik said. He stated that harm was done to his family, but that in doing so, the United States diminished itself.