Has Konaković joined Dodik in undermining Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty?

By: Amra Vrabac

When Milorad Dodik said at a press conference on Thursday that BiH has no sovereignty, blaming foreigners and the OHR for it, no political party that is in power with his SNSD reacted to that claim.

It is true that foreigners are present in BiH. It is also true that the OHR, or the High Representative, has all the powers, but it cannot interfere with the BiH Constitution. And the constitution of a country is the highest legal act that guarantees its sovereignty. In BiH, no foreigner can decide on the BiH Constitution, but only the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

Just a day later, BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković entered the scene. He was visiting Hungary, and at a meeting with Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, he openly asked for help in dealing with Milorad Dodik.

“The understanding of all politicians in BiH is very important, and I asked him to use his good connections with politicians in the RS to explain the benefits of the EU narrative, due to the crisis that is happening, to explain that he is lobbying for us to return to the principles that mean political stability, from which we can create some new economic opportunities,” Konaković said.

As expected, such a statement by Konaković met with numerous negative reactions, given Hungary's history of relations with Milorad Dodik. And not only that, Szijjártó himself advocates for changes to the BiH Election Law on Christian principles, as he stated in a conversation with Dragan Čović. Konaković also forgot the fact that Dodik became increasingly aggressive after meeting with Putin and Orban and is increasingly talking about the independence of the RS.

At a time when BiH is facing the biggest crisis since the Dayton Peace Agreement, with increasing attacks from the RS entity on the state and threats of secession, attacks on its citizens who are arrested for social media posts, and attacks on the BiH Constitutional Court, which is part of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the head of BiH diplomacy sees the solution in Szijjártó's help in the case of Dodik.

Even if Dodik stops all activities at this moment, and it is already too late for that, because he has attacked the BiH Constitutional Court, openly defied the OHR and the entire international community, history will remember him as a man who destroyed his own country. And worst of all, he went unpunished.

That he crossed the red line, which was only imaginarily set by the parties of the 'Troika', became clear on June 30, when he cursed genocide to his coalition partners. Even that was not enough for the 'good guys' from the Troika, so they quickly told Dodik that they were still his partners.

“They still have partners who are ready to build, regardless of the difficult circumstances we are in, the future of our country. Another path that can happen will lead Republika Srpska into complete isolation. Their position on the international and domestic scene is not really good, and I think they should take their actions seriously,” Konaković said.

And to such a message from the Troika, Dodik responded with an appearance at Kozara, a monologue about the survival of the RS, and even a possible referendum by the end of the year on the status of the RS.

Instead of closing all doors to Dodik, and if necessary, even cutting off all communication, and not having the BiH Parliament function because it wouldn't be the first time, the Troika has shown that they can sink even lower. Konaković is begging the Hungarians for help, and that country would be among the first to accept the independence of the RS. The humiliation we are witnessing these days from the Troika's cadres causes stomach pain.

The collapse of the state is happening before our eyes, and the Troika is pretending to be dead.
Although at the beginning of the process of forming the government, they announced that if they did not succeed, they would apologize and leave with partners SNSD and HDZ, that did not happen. BiH has not only not moved forward, but it seems to be reliving the 90s. There is no war, but it is as if there is. Because there are people who are ready for the horrors of the 90s again, who would slaughter and repeat all the crimes against Bosniaks. They have already said that, we are witnessing it these days. If that is not a red line for the Troika members, then I don't know what else could be.

One cannot fail to notice that the leaders of the Troika have received positions that are difficult to detach from. And if that requires the state to be smaller, it seems that is quite acceptable to them.
Meanwhile, six months have passed since the establishment of the new state government, and citizens are still leaving BiH in large numbers, waiting in lines at embassies, facing the same problems in healthcare and education, living difficult lives, and investors are withdrawing because they do not see legal certainty.

Six months is a sufficient period for the Troika to admit defeat to Dodik and Čović and stop sinking further into the mud. Because the joker they pull out every now and then, saying “SDA did that too,” has long been spent. They did not respond to SDA's call to finally form a broad pro-Bosnian bloc to defend the state.

So, what is the real goal of the Troika – to protect and preserve the state, or to protect and preserve their stay in power and good salaries for as long as possible?