MASKS ARE FALLING: Russia's slap to the West via HDZ, Dodik's Sarajevo elite play dumb

Written by: Ernad Metaj

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Masks are falling. Croatia, through the Election Law in BiH, wants to protect Russia's interests in the Balkans. This has long been clear, but it was confirmed in Moscow by the foreign ministers of Croatia and Russia, Gordan Grlić Radman and Sergey Lavrov. While messages from Moscow claimed that Croats in the Federation of BiH are disenfranchised, Croatian President Zoran Milanović spoke after a long pause and asserted that this problem cannot be solved without the Serbs.

Milanović merely translated the messages from Moscow: through the Election Law, Milorad Dodik needs to be saved. In doing so, Croatia maliciously gives wind to Russia's confrontation with the USA and the EU by supporting the thesis that sanctions are not aimed at individuals mired in corruption, but rather that they demonize the RS.

This was clearly warned by the Chair of the Presidency of BiH, Željko Komšić, stating that Dodik can no longer be saved by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

-    The only thing saving Dodik and his plan to dismantle the state is the adoption of the anti-civilizational demands of the HDZ for changes to the Election Law, which mean nothing other than killing not only the European, but more importantly, the NATO perspective of BiH and throwing the adopted Reform Program underfoot, with Russia rubbing its hands in satisfaction, and this would further strengthen Dodik's separatist policy, concluded Željko Komšić.

What is encouraging is that from the SDA, after the thoughtless moves by the president and vice-president of this party, Bakir Izetbegović and Safet Softić, who would again make compromises with the HDZ at the expense of the state, voices of reason are being heard. The Election Law does not have to be adopted, stated state representative Adil Osmanović. 

-    What the HDZ is asking for is political in nature, because none of the five judgments of the European Court of Human Rights has problematized the election of the Croatian member of the Presidency of BiH from the Federation of BiH, Osmanović noted.

His proposal to the HDZ is to file an appeal with the Constitutional Court of BiH or the European Court of Human Rights to see if there is actual discrimination, or if it is all aimed at further blocking the state and discriminating against citizens.

It is problematic that, it seems, some politicians from other political options have less reason than Osmanović, who have previously tested public sentiment regarding their willingness to help Čović, and thus, as we see, save Dodik. The latest attempt by the president of NIP, Elmedin Konaković, to break the unified stance of pro-Bosnian parties under the guise of obligations to friends in the EU and USA—that the Election Law should not be negotiated while the state is being dismantled—is increasingly contradicted by messages from Germany, where awareness is growing that this should now be bypassed.

In this context, messages from Moscow and Zagreb are important, which should sober up even some undecided democratic forces in the EU. US sanctions in BiH are yielding results, new ones are announced, and voices that the EU should follow suit are growing louder. Obviously, they have not only shaken Dodik but have also revealed the extent of Russian influence in the Balkans and the EU. BiH is not saved by the Election Law; its adoption according to the HDZ's wishes only further destabilizes BiH and indirectly gives wind to Russia in its intentions to prevent the expansion of the NATO alliance.

Therefore, further cementing the ethnic structure of BiH would be a direct victory for Russia over the West. Advocates of such a concept of BiH want to keep the state in a state of frozen conflict, which is essentially only postponed.