RESISTANCE LINE HOLDS WHILE EMBASSY WRITES LETTERS The Dodik-Čović Duo is Ambassador Murphy's Biggest Defeat

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo @aminacorbozeco

When we thought that last year's tensions between Milorad Dodik and the US Embassy had reached their peak, we were mistaken. In the past few weeks, the public correspondence between Dodik and the US Embassy has lost all semblance of tasteful political bickering, although in this case, it's not about classic political battles, as on one side we have Dodik, and on the other, the US administration.

Imagine the great America, the world's leading power, mired in the mud of Milorad Dodik from Laktaši.

The administration that follows Ambassador Michael Murphy is losing credibility, and the Ambassador's own appearances are starting to resemble those of Igor Kalabukhov, the Russian Ambassador, who attracts a lot of public attention, but it is by no means benevolent or purposeful.

Murphy's particularly ineffective actions will be remembered as firing blanks at Dodik, but also at Dragan Čović. There is no doubt that these two are holding the line of resistance firm and, while awaiting the US presidential elections, they expect the arrival of Donald Trump and then a change in the administration that currently threatens them with letters.

Murphy has precisely thanks to the Dodik-Čović duo lost, and has now lost credibility, just like Christian Schmidt, who, with the full support of the US administration, introduced a new dimension of tension and manipulation, and it's unclear which of the two uses them more.

Both have shown strength in one goal: to present SDA as the brake on the process of establishing the FBiH Government, and to perceive Bosniaks as the most cancerous part of society...

If it is known that the American Embassy in Sarajevo charted the path for the establishment of government, then it is clear that Dodik is 'on their conscience', because the Trojka parties at the state level, instead of being in opposition, have gone into a deadly embrace with SNSD.

We will remind you that the European Union did not agree with Schmidt's decisions on October 2nd, but he nevertheless listened to the US administration.

Therefore, Dodik is in power precisely thanks to the USA, and the Embassy's bickering with him is a smokescreen they are pulling over our eyes so that we don't clearly see that Dodik is not solely to blame.

Dragan Čović is a separate story, clearly an unsolvable enigma for Murphy. He currently stands in the way of the project called the Southern Interconnection, and the letters sent from the State Department and the Embassy regarding the importance of this project have remained a short-lived public amusement!

One thing is certain: the US commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and multi-ethnic character, and its integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions, is not in question, but everything else is! We too often forget that truth is not only the result, but also the path to it.

And the truth we are living now, where Dodik continues to rule despite sanctions and brings trouble to Bosnia and Herzegovina, indicates the poor work of the Embassy, which is considered one of the strongest.

And although Murphy is proud of the work his team has done in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, and Mostar to give this policy concrete, tangible meaning for the citizens of BiH, it will be remembered that an ambassador from great America lost a battle against the presidents of two parties in small Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Because, apart from wordplay, the fact is that Čović and Dodik are just waiting for his departure, one unscathed – Dragan Čović, and the other 'wounded' – Milorad Dodik, but with wounds that some administration, which he expects, will heal very quickly. When all is said and done, the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina has the most to lose.