Cović's honorary doctorate for Lajčak

By: Armin Aljović

President of HDZ BiH Dragan Čović will receive on Thursday the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, Miroslav Lajčak.

The University of Mostar will award on Thursday the honorary doctorate to Miroslav Lajčak, the former High Representative in BiH.

The IFIMES from Ljubljana wrote about clustering of some European officials who lobby for Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović and their policy of dissolution of BiH.

This is not the first time that the honorary doctorates such as the one for Lajčak will have been the subject of criticism by the academic community which considers any manipulation of science for political reasons quite unacceptable.

Slobodan Vasković, a journalist from Banja Luka, wrote an article last week pointing finger at top EU officials – such as Johannes Hahn and Lars Gunnar Wigemark – for lobbying in Brussels for Dodik's divisive politics. Lajčak's name was also on his list.

Ivo Komšić, the former member of BiH Presidency and a university professor, criticized Lajčak's stance towards Bosnia and Herzegovina in his most recent column:

- From this perspective it is clear why he had left the position before the end of his mandate. That has not happened to any high representative before – none of them wanted that because of the high position, as well as an incredibly high salary even for European standards. His early departure has never been explained, neither by him nor by those who hired him. It was justified by his nomination for foreign minister of his country, but that was not convincing enough. It came to light that he was withdrawn from Sarajevo, which he left and never came back to his office. It was revealed that it had to do with purchase of some expensive machines for agriculture and forestry for the Republika Srpska. The prime minister then was Milorad Dodik and the tender was won by a Slovakian company. The question remains if and why Lajčak was rewarded and who did it – his government or the RS prime minister. Each of them had a good reason to do so, said professor Komšić.