Dodik admits Putin wasn't with him and reveals the void in pro-Bosnian diplomacy!

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Milorad Dodik has been using the referendum story as a political tool for years – especially in election cycles or when he wants to pressure Sarajevo and the international community.

He has publicly spoken several times about Republika Srpska's right to a referendum (since 2006-2007), but has never taken concrete steps to actually hold one.

The fact that he is now saying he will "try to convince Putin" actually reveals two things. First, Putin has clearly not supported the referendum so far, Dodik himself admits this with the sentence that the Russian president "has always supported the Dayton Agreement and the territorial integrity of BiH".

Thus, Moscow has so far adhered to a formal stance on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dodik is now trying to change that stance at a time when the international scene is disrupted by the war in Ukraine, the strengthening of the Russian-Chinese axis, and the weakening of Western influence in the region.

In other words, Dodik has been mentioning the referendum for a long time, but until now he knew he did not have key international support (neither from Russia, nor China, nor the EU, nor the US).

He is now trying to use global circumstances to change that stance, starting with Vladimir Putin, because without Moscow's support, the referendum remains just a political slogan.

This situation also exposes the weakness of pro-Bosnian politics. Was it a mistake to rely entirely on the West while simultaneously ignoring Moscow?

Instead of Sarajevo maintaining at least minimal diplomatic channels with Russia, that space has been completely left to Dodik.

This makes him the only political actor from BiH who directly talks to Putin about the issue of state integrity, which gives him additional political weight.