Is Escobar 'coming for free' as Dodik thinks?

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The visit of US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar was commented on today by Milorad Dodik, member of the BiH Presidency and SNSD president, and RS Prime Minister Radovan Višković.

Dodik said that Escobar 'came for free' if he thinks that the crisis in which Bosnia and Herzegovina finds itself was caused in order for him (Dodik, ed.) to preserve power and wealth.

"If he does not change his perspective and consider the obvious facts, then he will also contribute to the atrophy of the country that the Americans, through high representatives and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have been shaping in previous years according to the wishes of the 'Muslims'.

Dodik also said that Escobar knows how he entered politics 26 years ago as a wealthy man, and that for all people in Republika Srpska to preserve their property, peace, stability, and a legal state for which he is fighting are necessary.

Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Radovan Višković told Escobar to 'feel comfortable in Bosnia and Herzegovina, visit Sarajevo, eat ćevapi, and return to America alive and well'.

Escobar will stay in BiH for three days, and on Monday he will talk separately with all three members of the BiH Presidency, and the collegiums of the houses of the State and Federal Parliaments. He will also visit Banja Luka, and it is still unknown with whom Escobar will meet and whether it will be opposition parties.

Before arriving in BiH, the American diplomat reiterated to RSE the US support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of BiH, with the remark that not everyone in RS supports Dodik and that there is someone to talk to. He told the citizens that there will be no war in BiH, and that this country deserves a European future.