Dodik sent three letters to Trump, seeking lifting of sanctions

Belgrade weekly NIN writes in its new issue that Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik sent three letters to Donald Trump's administration in Washington this summer, offering cooperation in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions, reports Patria agency.

NIN writes that after the sanctions, Dodik's political maneuvering room has been significantly narrowed; he travels rarely, few people visit him, and he and Republika Srpska are in a state of semi-isolation.

NIN reminds that in just a few days, Dodik abandoned two referendums: one on the independence of RS, which was never even on the agenda of the parliament or any other RS body, and a referendum on the BiH Court and Prosecutor's Office, which was passed by the National Assembly of RS without opposition support.

- For years, that decision was not published in the Official Gazette, and Dodik threatened with it, but when the decision had to be published recently 'by force of law,' he quickly said that the RS parliament would convene again and it would be withdrawn. Exactly as Hoyt Yee (US official for the Balkans) requested - writes NIN.

NIN states that more serious observers of the situation believe that 'there is something to it' because Dodik is rapidly abandoning referendums, rarely misses an opportunity to speak favorably about the US administration, and his only serious conflicts are still with the US Ambassador to BiH, Maureen Cormack.

- He is trying to act like a man who knows some important things, so he increasingly says that she is not an interpreter of US foreign policy, that she will leave soon, and similar things - writes Branislav Božić, NIN's correspondent from Banja Luka, in the article.