Dodik: Issues in BiH should be solved with help of Erdogan, Vucic, Milanovic

The situation in Bosnia could be resolved through dialogue which could be mediated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic and Croatia’s Zoran Milanovic, said the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency, Milorad Dodik.

“There is no more trust in these current intermediaries,” he said, referring to the international bodies which oversee Bosnia’s peace process.

“Bosniaks trust them, to a lesser extent Croats for their own reasons, while we Serbs do not trust them at all. If it is possible for us to talk in a setup with Erdogan, Vucic, Milanovic – we will do so. If not, then we will see,” Dodik told reporters in Stricici near Banja Luka.

The Serb Presidency member said he did not feel comfortable attending the Friday meeting between Bosnia’s three Presidency members and Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Dodik’s meeting with Erdogan as BiH Presidency member came despite a previous decision by the leadership of political parties in the Republika Srpska (RS) entity to withdraw from state institutions over the genocide ban which former High Representative, Valentin Inzko, imposed in BiH in July.
Dodik faces criticism over his participation at the meeting, with the RS opposition saying he violated the agreement.

“It was not easy to listen to all those stories, but I can imagine what would have been said if I had not been there and if I had not had the opportunity to tell them everything I said,” said Dodik.

He said that he has proven his patriotism towards Republika Srpska in a public and clear way at the meeting with Erdogan.

“Then I said that we are ready to try to reach an agreement on all open issues, and that, if that is not the case, we are ready for peaceful dissolution and that all friends of BiH, including Erdogan himself, should understand that,” he said.