Slavo Kukić: HDZ and Čović Have Shown They Are Ready to Drag Croats into a Conflict with the Entire World

BiH, (Patria) – The international community has accused Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik of obstructing amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is one of the rare instances when international representatives in the country openly and loudly state who is the obstacle on Bosnia and Herzegovina's Euro-Atlantic path.

The embassies of Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the OHR and the OSCE sent an open letter on May 30, in which they stated that they are deeply concerned by, as they noted, „the obvious fact that within the HDZ BiH and SNSD there is no genuine interest in implementing the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH on the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH.”

"It is clear that they are not concerned that their inaction will seriously jeopardize the fight against corruption and organized crime in BiH," stated the embassies and international organizations in BiH.

The High Representative in BiH, Valentin Inzko, also said on Wednesday on Dnevnik 3 of Federal Television that he hopes that in October citizens will "choose new parties, or new people in the old parties."

The HDZ BiH criticized the representatives of the international community, accusing them of making sweeping statements, which, they believe, will not contribute to the stabilization of relations in BiH.

Professor Slavo Kukić believes that Dragan Čović has shown that he is ready to drag the entire nation into a conflict with the world, just to maintain his position in power. On the other hand, he points out, he is certain that the international community is aware of such readiness on Čović's part.

„There are two levels of the problem. As far as the HDZ and its leader are concerned, he is ready to drag the entire nation into a conflict with the entire world, in order to keep himself afloat. As for the world centers of power, I personally think that they themselves are aware of his readiness and that they do not equate his politics with the Croats living in Bosnia and Herzegovina,“ Professor Kukić told the Patria agency.

Asked whether citizens in BiH recognize the policy that leads them into conflict with the modern world, Professor Kukić believes that Bosnian society needs to undergo a process of catharsis in order to then embark on genuine reforms. He is not sure that this is happening at the moment, but, he believes, it is very possible in the near future.

„I am not sure that we can talk about this process at this moment. And without that process, there is no readiness to turn their backs on those who have been pushing society into the abyss for 30 years,“ says Professor Kukić.

„The truth is that without external impetus, this process takes a longer time. The Germans, who were under the absolute control of the Allies, needed 20 years for the process of catharsis to take hold. Here we do not have an effect like that in Germany. On the contrary, since 2005, the international community, the world centers of power, have distanced themselves from the processes in BiH, and by that distancing they stopped the upward trajectory in the stabilization of Bosnian society. The reactions of nine embassies, the OHR and the OSCE, and then the open naming of Čović and Dodik could be a sign that they have recognized their mistakes, and that they have simply decided to rotate their relationship towards BiH. If that is true, then that process of catharsis could be triggered.”

Asked whether this will happen in the October elections, as Valentin Inzko also hopes, Professor Kukić says he doubts it will happen in October. „The next municipal and the next parliamentary elections in BiH, quite certainly,“ concludes Professor Kukić.