In when you want, out when they let you: When Mladen Ivanić's president is Milorad Dodik

Written by: Sead Omeragić

The recent statement by Mladen Ivanić, a member of the BiH Presidency, that he is not interested in the situation in the Federation of BiH irritated the public, as it came in a series of his radical positions.

Ivanić said this as the Chairman of the Presidency of the state of BiH. With this, he presented himself almost as some kind of entity branch in the highest state body of BiH.

If Ivanić is a member of the BiH Presidency from the Republika Srpska, then his president is Milorad Dodik. Ivanić's leadership position in the state and his secondary position in the entity explain many facts that are unfortunate for him.

It turns out that his behavior is thereby directed and conditioned by dictates from RS. When he travels outside BiH and talks with other statesmen, does he present himself as an extension of RS or the first man of BiH? Are his positions as Chairman and the first man in BiH actually the positions of the entity, which is not mentioned either in the Constitution or in the Directions and priorities of BiH's foreign policy.

Ivanić recently met with Johannes Hahn, EU Enlargement Commissioner, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission. The only thing he conveyed to the BiH public from those talks was a warning that without closing the OHR and the departure of foreign judges from the Constitutional Court, BiH will not get candidate status and start negotiations. And his president Dodik also has a problem with foreigners.

As if, at the same time, joining Europe is not under the total influence of those same foreigners. European leaders have, as for no country before, confirmed help in filling out the European Commission questionnaire for BiH. It should be clear to Ivanić as well whose door he is knocking on.

It is absurd that Ivanić wants to join Europe while his real president Dodik does everything to make this country dependent on Serbia, Russia, and recently almost on the Austrian radical right.

The consequence of Dodik's actions are foreigners in BiH institutions. Since Dodik does not stop dividing this state, talking about withdrawals of powers, secessions, threatening and blackmailing his own state, and then constantly winning elections and referendums, then the Alliance for Change, if Ivanić is any indication, has followed in the footsteps of its president.

If the opposition in the Alliance for Change in RS adopts Dodik's radicalism as a means, then there is no chance for any changes. As with the recent referendum, when they were only the first and second followers of Dodik's policy. Is there a way out?

Where is the solution then? Ivanić's sudden radical outbursts can also seem like a last defense against the desperate economic situation and the enormous indebtedness of RS, twice as large as that of the Federation of BiH. The position of the opposition in RS is interesting. They want a debate on the Court of BiH because it is not taking any action against Dodik. They cite the scandals he has produced and drastically damaged RS and BiH.

At the same time, Dodik acts as if it does not concern him and gives them the right. He almost says: I told you all this. On the same note, the head of SDS, Vukota Govedarica, is acting radically, demanding a new referendum on the judiciary, again within the Republika Srpska.

In the Federation, they do not understand these games and the leaps of radicalism in RS, so they reject them outright. The opposition would use a new referendum to oppose Dodik's annulled referendum, although this is unfeasible.

Thus, the opposition, like Dodik, speaks the only language acceptable to their public – blackmail and threats, even if only for internal use. Recently, in a TV debate, Ivanić proudly stated that his ancestors were on the side of anti-fascism.

One could call Ivanić a Chetnik, but nothing in this country can be interpreted simply and one-sidedly anymore. There is a particular dilemma: is Ivanić, with his radical statements, ready to compensate for Dodik's political departure, which has been looming for a long time but is regularly postponed?

If Ivanić's radical positions are forced, does he only confirm that for the majority of Serbs in the Republika Srpska, the only fuse that ignites radical behavior towards the institutions and the state of which they are more than an equal part? The circle would close again, and in RS they could watch variations on the theme of variations: In when you want, out when they let you.