US Senator Wicker: Help BiH, Sanction Politicians Who Don't Respect Dayton and Bosnian Law

(Patria) - US Senator Roger Wicker, Chairman of the Helsinki Committee in the US, spoke in the Senate about increasing US engagement in BiH, noting that Bosnians and Herzegovinians deserve support and friendship.

"While our relationship with all Western Balkan countries is important, the United States has a special interest in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We need to focus more on this," Senator Wicker said.

He believes that the United States and Europe should adopt a policy of imposing sanctions on certain Bosnian officials who are clearly involved in corruption or who ignore Dayton parameters, Bosnian law, and court decisions. He reminded that Washington has already imposed sanctions on Milorad Dodik and Nikola Špirić.

"Bosnia went through the worst slaughter in Europe since World War II. The conflict that broke out in Bosnia in 1992 was not internally generated. On the contrary, Bosnia became a victim of the breakup of Yugoslavia and the extreme nationalist forces that the breakup of the state unleashed throughout the region, primarily the Serbian leader and war criminal Slobodan Milošević," said Senator Wicker.

He pointed out that almost a quarter of a century later, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still far from what the US administration wanted to achieve and what the people in that country deserve, i.e., far from a prosperous democracy.

He reminded that in 2018, all citizens can run for the Presidency, at the state level, due to their ethnic affiliation.

"Neither Bosniaks and Croats in Republika Srpska nor Serbs in the Federation of BiH can run for the Presidency due to their ethnic affiliation, in Europe in 2018," the American senator pointed out.

He noted that the General Elections will be held in October, again in a system that will favor the status quo and resistance to electoral reform.

The American senator believes that the United States, together with its European friends, should take the Dayton Agreement as a foundation on which progress will be enabled. He emphasizes that any

He concluded that the people in Bosnia, as well as their neighbors across the Balkans, know that they are in Europe, but they believe that the United States is their most sincere friend.

"Our country is responsible for preserving Bosnia after the country was almost destroyed by aggression, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. Thank God our country was for Bosnia," said the American senator.