Palmer for VOA: The international community cannot allow Dodik to persist

(Patria) - Matthew Palmer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, spoke to Voice of America (VOA) about the latest political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Voice of America: Mr. Palmer, when we spoke last, about six months ago, you said it was important to form a government at the state level, and the international community insisted on that. The government was formed at the end of the year and the Reform Program, which is actually more or less the ANP, was sent. And now, just a few months later, we have a new major crisis, a blockade of institutions. How do you comment on that?

Matthew Palmer: Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot afford to stumble from one crisis to another. What is important is that leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina fulfill their promises to citizens on all sides in Bosnia and Herzegovina, those living in the Federation, those living in Republika Srpska, to strive to make the lives of people in Bosnia and Herzegovina better, to make the country more stable, peaceful, and prosperous. Instead, it seems that the leaders intend to push the country from one crisis to another. I think we saw that with Mr. Dodik's stance on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council and the Constitutional Court, creating a crisis where there should be none.

Voice of America: He said yesterday that the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina will disappear when Bosnia and Herzegovina disappears. Are these threats, in your opinion, real?

Matthew Palmer: I think there are threats that we take very seriously. Certainly, it is a threat of blocking institutions at the state level, a threat of preventing the functionality of Bosnian-Herzegovinian institutions and preventing these institutions from serving their purpose and fulfilling the promise to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina that their government will serve their interests. This is a threat that we should take very seriously. Mr. Dodik has behaved in the past in a way that is inconsistent and incompatible with the Dayton Agreement, and he has been the subject of US sanctions because of it. Anyone who joins anti-Dayton positions risks triggering such a response from the United States.

Voice of America: And what could that response be? He is already under sanctions and does such things, as you said, year after year. The last time we spoke, you said you hoped he wouldn't maintain such stubborn rhetoric, but he did. What should the international community, the State Department, or you do, instead of just hoping and waiting for his next move or for him not to become even more radical?

Matthew Palmer: We must all be clear, the international community collectively must make it clear that this is unacceptable and that it will not be allowed to persist. So I would think that everyone in Banja Luka, in Republika Srpska, who aligns themselves with the position taken by Mr. Dodik, must understand the risks it carries and the damage they are doing to the future European perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Voice of America: The international community has spent millions of dollars, especially the United States, on public sector reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the judiciary, to make it less dependent on politics, but yesterday a meeting of Serb representatives was held, and among the people who were there was the president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, which is a kind of politicization of that body, which should be independent. Was all that money spent in vain?

Matthew Palmer: No, I think there has certainly been progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And it is important sometimes to step back and look at the bigger picture. Look at the country. Conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina are certainly much better now than they were 20, 25 years ago. So, I think we are continuously concerned about the nature of the judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the functionality of the judicial system.