MUHAREM CERO Vatican debacle of Dodik's ethno-representation

By: Muharem Cero 

---

The media announcement, followed by the institutional confirmation of Milorad Dodik's visit to the Vatican and Pope Francis, introduced a series of controversies into the political and media space. It lasted from Friday to Good Friday. There were speculations about the goals of the meeting, its protocol validity, the way the visit itself was organized, the lobbying fingers involved, and many other things.

The event itself and its interpretation are accompanied by no less controversy. Views on it are most often determined by the source and the need to prove expected goals, which includes one's own perception, and even spin artistry. It seems that Inoslav Bešker, a journalist from the Vatican, recognized the whole thing well, saying: „This is not an event of international significance… it can serve Milorad Dodik for local use among his own people (Serbian) and the BiH entity of Republika Srpska.“

Milorad Dodik's protocol included a meeting with Pope Francis and a conversation with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The meeting with the Pope and the content of the conversation were already a field of controversy in interpretation. Namely, Dodik determines its significance by its duration, placing it at double the usual protocol (45 minutes compared to the actual 32 minutes). It seems that the length of the entire conversation was dictated by the language barrier and the need for translation.

Statements about the content of the conversation with the Pope, according to Dodik, range from events in Sri Lanka, the tragedy in New Zealand, the need to preserve world peace, establishing dialogue on the path to canonization of Cardinal Stepinac, a nursing home in Banja Luka, the reconstruction of the church in Petričevac, restitution, to the relationship between the Catholic Church and BiH.

The Vatican statement significantly reduces the listed topics and essentially reduces them to the need for reconciliation in BiH and the protection of individual rights of each person.

This spin by Dodik also aimed at positioning himself in a statesman role that does not belong to him and disproportionate international influence of a person on blacklists and a pronounced denier of genocide and opponent of the Hague Tribunal.

For now, less is known about the content of Dodik's conversation with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin. The position of the Secretary of State is of an executive-operative nature and has special significance for the entire visit. According to Dodik, the topics of this meeting were: the formation of government in BiH, changes to the election law, the difficult position of Catholic Croats in BiH and the need for them to participate at all levels of government on the basis of parity, while for the second part, nothing is known yet. Judging by what has been listed, it should be expected that the true positions of the hosts of the visit will only become visible with a delayed effect, as is otherwise appropriate for the specificity of Vatican statehood.

Two of Dodik's goals for the visit, however, did not achieve the expected effects. Dodik failed to unblock his own isolation in the serious Western world, which is confirmed by the lack of media coverage of this event in all Western countries. After all, this is also confirmed by the absence of an invitation to the Berlin events.

Dodik's second goal also suffered a diplomatic debacle. The introduction into the public space of the principle of ethnic representations as a way of forming government and ultimately a form of coexistence, which is based on the matrix of the desired confederalization of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this time remained at the door of the Papal Library. Željka Cvijanović, the president of the BiH entity of Republika Srpska, nevertheless went from the expected second star of the Serbian representation to merely a protocolary companion of Milorad Dodik. Once again, she was assigned a role similar to the one at the alleged Trump inauguration dinner. Dodik, of course, will not admit the diplomatic debacle, and the Pope's gift was just pepper on his defeat.