Ivanić: I don't see any politician from RS who can vote for NATO before Serbia does

There is no reason to do anything about NATO membership now because the current generation of politicians will not decide on membership, but generations in about ten years, said Mladen Ivanić, BiH Presidency member from RS in an interview with Nezavisne novine.

"And as long as that condition exists, and as long as property is registered in courts - and it is - it will not be completed for at least seven or eight, even ten years, because court proceedings take that long," Ivanić said.

Asked about candidacies for the next elections, he said he was convinced that the Alliance for Change would reach an agreement on joint candidates, and that if he decided to run, he would be pleased if his opponent was Milorad Dodik.

"The Membership Action Plan (MAP) this year is not realistic because the condition of property registration has not been met. And as long as that condition exists, and as long as property is registered in courts - and it is - it will not be completed for at least seven or eight, even ten years, because court proceedings take that long. Therefore, why raise tensions? What for? And this is primarily done by President Dodik and his spokespersons after him - Špirić, Košarac, and Majkić. All key decisions on MAP were made while SNSD was in power. The only official document that exists is the request of Radmanović when he was in the Presidency to activate MAP. Based on that request, the response was defined in Tallinn, which says 'yes, BiH will get MAP when the property is registered'. Nowhere will anyone find a document with my signature regarding this. It's all Dodik and his people," Ivanić said.

And a referendum on NATO?

"What referendum? It's not a topic. There is no reason to do anything on that topic because NATO will not be decided by the generation of politicians in which Dodik, Ivanić, Radmanović, Špirić sit... but by some generations in ten to 15 years.

We will not even get MAP for a few years, unless someone suddenly changes the conditions due to this noise Dodik has made. And it can happen now that because of Dodik's noise, MAP is approved, and they literally refer to the letter of his man and say: 'Here, we believe that based on that request, we should accommodate BiH and activate MAP'. What will they say then? Who will be to blame then? It is completely unnecessary, but this hasty noise is typical for Dodik. Without thinking about the implications of what he is doing.

But there is something else. This is the first time I hear that MAP is a problem. There was full agreement on this. And now I suddenly hear Dodik saying that MAP is problematic. A few days ago, MAP was a problem for him, and I think yesterday (Sunday) he said it wasn't a problem, only NATO was a problem for him.

I have the courage to say that I know the people are not for NATO and I don't see any Serb politician who can vote for NATO before Serbia does. If that's the case, what do we need a referendum for?" said Mladen Ivanić, among other things.

You can read the full interview by clicking HERE.