Inzko: I have the authority to dismiss Dodik, but those times are gone

“Milorad Dodik sent me five thousand postcards with my caricature. Some even contained death threats to me and my son. It is true, I have the authority to dismiss Dodik. My predecessors used them 800 times, and 180 politicians were dismissed. But those times are gone. Today we want domestic solutions and domestic responsibility,” says Valentin Inzko, the High Representative of the International Community for Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a major interview with Zagreb's Globus on the occasion of the increasingly crude political provocations by the President of Republika Srpska, Patria reports.

Inzko believes that it is by no means time to abolish the OHR, as demanded by the leaders of Republika Srpska.

“The Office can be abolished when the '5+2' program is fulfilled - five goals, including settled state and military property, and two conditions. One condition has been met, which is the Stabilization and Association Agreement. The second is more demanding, as it implies a 'positive assessment of the political situation in BiH and full implementation of the Dayton Agreement'. You can assess for yourself to what extent this condition has been met,” says Inzko.

When asked what he will do if the leadership of Republika Srpska crosses the “red line” and calls a referendum on secession from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is constantly threatened by Dodik's circle, the High Representative answers: “The international community would never accept a referendum on the secession of Republika Srpska, nor would I, as High Representative, sign such a thing.”

Would an intervention by the international community also mean the engagement of military forces against separatists? 

“Military intervention is an exception and comes only as a last resort. SFOR had 60,000 soldiers and stopped the war in BiH. Today there are 600 international soldiers, but they still have a unanimous executive mandate from the UN Security Council. They are both a military and political factor of stability, says Inzko.