KOVAČEVIĆ: SRPSKA AND DODIK STRONGER THAN EVER

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 21 /SRNA/ – Serb deputy in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Radovan Kovačević said that President Milorad Dodik had made a personal sacrifice in order to prevent the seizure of Republika Srpska’s property, with the aim of protecting Srpska and its future.

Kovačević assessed that the past four-year term had been marked by constant attacks on Republika Srpska, because everyone had tried to put an end to it. "Sarajevo sensed the support to launch the most aggressive attack on Srpska. I believe it is time to speak openly about why Christian Schmidt imposed amendments to the Criminal Code stipulating that those who do not comply with his decisions will face criminal prosecution. His intention was to seize Srpska's property; he openly said that he had a law on state property in his drawer. His plan was to take everything that belongs to us, everything that is ours - forests, roads, squares, parks, agricultural land," Kovačević told RTRS. Kovačević stressed that this would have meant the end of Srpska. "If Schmidt had been asked, we would have had to wait for Sarajevo's decision on everything, which Dodik recognised. He took a year, a year and a half away from them, at a time when they were at their strongest, and forced them to spend that time pursuing him. He was ready to make that sacrifice in order to protect Srpska's property," Kovačević added. He emphasized that Dodik had made a personal sacrifice with the aim of protecting Republika Srpska and its future. "This term was marked by the strongest attack on Srpska, but Dodik directed attack's full force toward himself personally," Kovačević said. Regarding the court proceedings against Dodik, Kovačević noted that Dodik had set a trap into which they immediately fell. "They had spent 20 years trying to remove Dodik because they were aware that he was the main obstacle to achieving their goal of eliminating Republika Srpska. For years, from one election cycle to the next, they failed. They supported the opposition in every possible way," Kovačević said. He said that Dodik knew their time was running out, while the property of Republika Srpska had survived. "Dodik is still here today; where are Schmidt and Michael Murphy? How strong are those who tried to bring down Republika Srpska? It seems to me that Srpska is stronger than ever today. We see that Dodik is stronger than ever, someone whom the people still love. Dodik is not holding presidential position, not because that is not the will of the people, but because he defended Srpska. Yet we see that this does not concern Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, or Russian President Vladimir Putin, nor American officials," Kovačević said.