DODIK: SACHS HAS LONG SPOKEN UP FOR RIGHTS OF SMALL NATIONS TO THEIR OWN VOICE

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 27 /SRNA/ - President Milorad Dodik welcomed Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs, stressing that Republika Srpska values true friends and open dialogue with people who place their knowledge, experience and courage on the right side of history.

"Welcome to Banja Luka, Professor Sachs. One of the most influential voices of our time, a man whose voice resonates around the world, is a guest of Republika Srpska", Dodik posted on X. Dodik said Sachs had for decades been saying what many others only whispered - that the world cannot function according to the rules of a single power, that sovereignty is not a relic of the past, and that small nations have the right to their own voice, their own path and their own future. "Those are precisely the values that Republika Srpska defends", Dodik said. He added that this was why he was pleased Sachs was there - to hear, see and understand things firsthand, because the world was changing and, in the world now emerging, there would also be room for those who refuse to remain silent. "A respectful welcome. Republika Srpska values true friends and open dialogue with people who place their knowledge, experience and courage on the right side of history", Dodik wrote. Jeffrey Sachs, one of the world's best-known economists and a professor at Columbia University, met today with senior Republika Srpska officials at the Republika Srpska Government headquarters in Banja Luka. He is due to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Banja Luka tomorrow.