RS is bankrupt, the strongman from Banja Luka again plays the ethnonationalist card

Austrian Der Standard has dedicated a major article to the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina caused by the announced referendum in the Republika Srpska, as well as the joint police exercise of Serbia and the RS, reports the Patria news agency. 

The newspaper emphasizes that it is actually about ‘pre-election maneuvers by Milorad Dodik’ and that the only ones in Europe supporting him are Austrian extreme rightists Heinz-Christian Strache and presidential candidate Norbert Hofer, both from the FPÖ, writes tportal.hr.

Der Standard begins the article titled ‘Bosnian Serbs: Dodik uses referendum for election campaign’ with a description of a somewhat bizarre police exercise by forces of Serbia and the Republika Srpska, which was even broadcast live on television in the smaller BiH entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"If the situation were not so tense, this could be dismissed as a summer spectacle in the election campaign," writes Der Standard, adding that the exercise took place around the Drina River, which is the border between Serbia and the RS, thus ‘sending a symbolic message about erasing that border.'

The Austrian newspaper warns that statements by RS President Milorad Dodik and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić about how ‘there is no problem we cannot solve together’ sound dangerous and recall the war of the 1990s, during which Nikolić was part of Chetnik units that fought for the destruction of BiH.

 

An additional provocation is that the alleged anti-terrorist exercise called Drina 2016 was held in an area where Serbian forces committed mass massacres of the Bosniak population, so it is not surprising that Bosniak politicians speak of saber-rattling.

It is also added that local elections are being held in BiH on October 2:

"The RS is bankrupt, the social situation is bad. The strongman from Banja Luka is again playing the ethnonationalist card. That is why Dodik wants to hold a referendum on September 25 to continue celebrating RS Day on January 9," believes Der Standard.

Der Standard also refers to a secret recording of Zoran Milanović that was released to the public after his meeting with Josip Klemmo, in which the SDP president says that Dodik has the support of the Austrian extreme right.

The Austrian newspaper recalls that Dodik has excellent contacts with the president of the right-wing extremist FPÖ Heinz-Christian Strache and with their presidential candidate Norbert Hofer.

"Hofer stated last fall that the RS should decide its own future," recalls Der Standard.