DODIK: NO TALKS WITH EU OFFICIALS WHO DO NOT ACCEPT REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

TEL AVIV, SEPTEMBER 17 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska will not accept political conditions tied to BiH's European integration process and will not negotiate with EU representatives who do not accept Republika Srpska, President Milorad Dodik has stated today.

Dodik said BiH was being asked to surrender part of its sovereignty as part of the European integration process, adding that Republika Srpska would not accept conditions requiring it to give up its interests or cooperate with those who do not accept it. "Who are we supposed to negotiate with? Marta Kos? Those misguided liberals who have ruined Europe and European values?" Dodik told reporters in Tel Aviv. He said talks with the EU should continue, but argued that they could not be based on conditionality. BiH, he said, should maintain economic cooperation with the EU while rejecting political conditions it considers unacceptable. Commenting on European financial assistance, Dodik said Republika Srpska was not interested in the money if accepting it required political concessions. "I'm not stupid enough to think we shouldn’t have economic and other forms of cooperation. But that money of theirs - the billion they say they will supposedly give to BiH — does not interest me,” Dodik said. He added that Republika Srpska should engage in dialogue and cooperate with other partners, including the United States, Russia, China and Israel. "That is a healthy approach," Dodik assessed. He also criticized the EU's current policies on migration and security, saying Europe was facing serious problems that it was struggling to address. "Europe is rotten. Europe no longer has the value it once had and is not as attractive as it used to be," Dodik said, adding that by Europe he was referring to the EU and its bureaucracy. Dodik argued that the EU needed to "redefine its policies" and that European officials should devote more attention to problems within the Union itself. Dodik also criticized the EU’s migration policy and European officials' approach to the rule of law in BiH. "What kind of rule of law are they talking about when they supported Christian Schmidt for five years?" Dodik asked. He stated that Europe had the misfortune of being led at a time like this by "incompetent figures" such as Kaja Kallas, Marta Kos and others.