Čović and Dodik - players of regional importance for the Russians

By Amina Čorbo-Zećo

---

The European Union Delegation, the US Embassy have called for the unblocking of government formation at the Federation level, and to set aside narrow party interests and focus on exercising power and on the needs of citizens. Currently, Dragan Čović, the leader of HDZ, is the one who is not giving up on conditioning and seeking changes to the BiH Election Law as it suits him personally and HDZ.
It seems that since his visit to Russia, he has officially taken the stance of turning to Milorad Dodik's SNSD and is now publicly becoming a Russian player. And not just any player - Čović, with Dodik, is a player of regional importance for the Russians.

Before his official trip to Moscow, Čović frequently met with the Russian Ambassador to BiH, Petar Ivancov, and it was precisely he who rarely, or rather never, showed goodwill towards political Sarajevo as he did towards Dodik and Čović. In recent years, the good relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Croatia have been evident. This is probably why the constant and unambiguous support of Russian Ambassador Petar Ivancov for Dragan Čović and HDZ BiH is the main line of Russian policy towards BiH. However, as observed in one party, Čović's Zagreb mentor, Milijan Brkić, known for his close ties with Russia, has entered into an open conflict with the pro-European wing of HDZ of the Republic of Croatia over the position of the party president, and it is clear to Čović that he will no longer be able to use HDZ of the Republic of Croatia as an informal diplomatic network of lobbyists.

That is why he has started to act alone, now directly supported by Russia and Dodik.

Dragan Čović tried to cover up his Russian traces by not attending the celebration of the unconstitutional so-called Day of Republika Srpska, but his earlier celebrations are still remembered, in which HDZ and Čović chose Russia as their strategic partner.

Very quickly after 2018 and January of that year, it became clear that Milorad Dodik was not the only pro-Russian and anti-NATO exponent in BiH.

Russia often likes to emphasize that they do not interfere in the internal affairs of BiH. This is usually the case when Russia remains silent on all violations of the Constitution, but it reacts urgently only to those decisions that are not in favor of Russia and its partners in BiH. When topics such as constitutional amendments, NATO, and EU accession come up, the Russian embassy sends statements.

How strong Russia's ties are with Čović can also be seen in Ivancov's concern for the so-called Croatian issue in BiH.

Therefore, the Russian embassy has a practice of reacting mainly when it comes to cases related to NATO and RS, but there is still a desire and interference in resolving "Croatian problems" as well.

HDZ from RS receives full support for amendments to the Constitution and the Election Law, because the HDZ's proposal for the Election Law does not cross the entity border, so Dodik and SNSD have no problems with it. Through Dodik and Čović, Russia achieves its interests in BiH under the guise of non-interference in internal affairs in BiH, gives direct support to Čović, and thus directly slows down BiH's European and NATO path.

Because Čović's desires, reflected in the Election Law, are undemocratic and do not belong in Europe at all.