Helez on threats from RS and Serbia: Let no one be deluded - Armed Forces are ready to act to protect BiH

(Patria) - BiH Minister of Defence Zukan Helez addressed the public on social media today, ahead of the closing arguments in the case against Milorad Dodik before the BiH Court.

"As the date for the verdict approaches, political pressure on the BiH Court is increasing, and the trial of Dodik is being presented as a trial of all citizens of RS, as an open path to the unitarization of BiH, as a trial in which Bosniaks are trying Serbs, and other lies and manipulations.

In this context, representatives of the authorities of the smaller Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity, led by SNSD members, officially threatened at a meeting in Banja Luka held on Monday evening to make radical decisions if the BiH Court passes any verdict in the case against Dodik.

President of neighboring Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, also joined this open political pressure on the BiH Court, stating that he hopes there will be enough wisdom not to pass a verdict that could endanger stability.

Poor Vučić, in a frantic escape from his own people and the chaos in the country he presides over, is trying to interfere in the work of the judicial institutions of his neighboring country, BiH, without any right, power, or influence. He needs any crisis, any instability, to divert attention from the protests in his own country.

Regardless, we are not afraid of Vučić's tears. The institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina are strong enough to resist any pressure, external or internal.

In all democratic and free countries of the world (which Serbia's authorities do not belong to), no individual is above the law. All citizens are equal before the law and the court.

Many politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been prosecuted – Dragan Čović, Mladen Ivanić, Mirko Šarović, Fahrudin Radončić, and some of them have been convicted – Jadranko Prlić, Ante Jelavić, Fadil Novalić, Selmo Cikotić, Jerko Ivanković Lijanović, and others. Why would it be any different for Milorad Dodik?

Whatever the verdict, life in Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue. I am sure that the BiH Court is independent and strong enough to resist pressure and deliver a just verdict in this case in accordance with the law, whatever it may be.

I call on all citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina to remain calm and not to be afraid, in light of the rising tensions and threats from Milorad Dodik and the clique gathered around him in our country.

I call on BiH institutions, primarily judicial and security ones, to be prepared and act in accordance with their legal competencies to ensure normal life.

The High Representative in BiH, the member states of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), EUFOR, NATO, the UN Security Council, and other international factors must be aware of the moment Bosnia and Herzegovina is in and be ready to act to preserve peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For me, the BiH Constitution is sacred. As the Minister of Defence of BiH, I do not have the constitutional authority to react to Milorad Dodik's incitement of tensions. For me, as the Minister of Defence of BiH, the competence, as well as the obligation to act, arises if the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and unity of Bosnia and Herzegovina are threatened.

To those who live in fantasies, I will repeat that RS is not a state, it never has been, and it never will be, but rather one of the two multi-ethnic entities within the sovereign state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Let no one be deluded, the Armed Forces of BiH are ready to act to protect the statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and unity," Helez stated.