Mile's Catalan dreaming, a fool's delight

The referendum on Catalonia's independence from Spain was an ideal opportunity for those who dream of separating the Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina to have their day.

Many pointed out that the Catalans have every right to secede from the hated Madrid, as they can no longer endure Madrid's oppression.

After the referendum was held, in which about 90 percent of those who turned out to vote chose the option FOR secession, the European Commission's reaction was that the referendum was illegal and that the EU does not recognize it.

The EU demonstrated its stance on the integrity and territorial integrity of Spain during the election day when no senior official condemned the brutality of the Spanish police against the citizens of Catalonia.

Condemnation came exclusively from politicians who, in the potential Catalan independence, see their own chance to one day secede from their home states.

The day after the referendum, the strongest condemnations came from Vučić, Dačić, and Dodik. They, as expected, accused EU officials of hypocrisy. Vučić asked how it is that those who supported Kosovo's independence do not recognize the referendum in Catalonia.

The EC quickly responded, saying that the two cannot be compared in any way.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić found himself at a crossroads: because of Kosovo, he cares about Spain's integrity, but because of the RS, Catalan independence is not entirely unwelcome to him. Dačić wonders why some politicians from Serbia went to Barcelona, but not to Banja Luka.

The trio Vučić-Dačić-Dodik found themselves in a tight spot. They cannot find a way to declare EU leaders hypocrites while avoiding the same qualification when it comes to their attitude towards Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

International law experts have long since said their piece. Catalonia, Kosovo, and the RS have nothing to do with each other, no matter how hard the main figures of Serbian and Republika Srpska politics try to prove otherwise.

When it comes to Catalonia, opinions for and against independence from Spain are entirely legitimate, but what both sides have in common is that neither disputes that Catalonia is a historical fact that was once separate.

Catalonia has a rich political, cultural, sporting, and every other history, that is, everything that the Republika Srpska does not have.

The RS was created a quarter of a century ago in a brutal manner through killing, rape, expulsion of the population, and burning and destroying religious and cultural buildings.

Any linking of Catalonia and the RS, Barcelona and Banja Luka, has no sense or basis.

Vučić, Dačić, and Dodik know this very well.