Vatican Debacle of Dodik's Ethno-Representation

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 organization of the visit itself, the lobbyists involved, and many others.

The event itself, as well as its interpretation, is accompanied by no less controversy. Opinions on the matter are most often determined by the source and the need to prove expected goals, which includes one's own perception and spin skills. Inoslav Bešker, a Vatican journalist, seems to have understood the whole situation well, stating: "This is not an event of international significance... it can serve Milorad Dodik for local use among his own people (Serbs) 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 controversial interpretations. Namely, Dodik determined the 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.

According to Dodik, the statements about the content of the conversation with the Pope ranged from events in Sri Lanka, the tragedy in New Zealand, the need for world peace, establishing dialogue on the path to the canonization of Cardinal Stepinac, a home for the elderly in Banja Luka, the renovation of a church in Petričevac, restitution, to the relations between the Catholic Church and BiH.

The Vatican's statement significantly reduced the listed topics, essentially boiling them down to the need for reconciliation in BiH and the protection of individual rights for every person.

This spin by Dodik also aimed at positioning himself in a state function he is not entitled to and an disproportionate international influence for a person on blacklists, a pronounced denier of genocide, and an opponent of the Hague Tribunal.

For now, less is known about the content of Dodik's conversation with the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin. The position of the Secretary of State is executive-operational in nature and has special significance in terms of the entire visit. According to Dodik, the topics of this meeting were: the establishment of government in BiH, changes to the election law, the difficult position of Croat Catholics in BiH, and the need for them to participate at all levels of government on a parity basis, and nothing else is known for now. Judging by the list, one should expect that the true positions of the hosts of the visit will only become apparent with a delayed effect, as is usually appropriate for the specific nature of Vatican statehood.

Two of Dodik's goals for the visit did not achieve the expected results. 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, the absence of an invitation to the Berlin events also confirms this.

Dodik's second goal also experienced a diplomatic debacle. The introduction of the principle of ethnic representation into the public sphere as a way of forming government and ultimately as a form of coexistence, which is on the matrix of the desired confederalization of Bosnia and Herzegovina, remained at the doors of the Papal Library this time. Željka Cvijanović, the president of the BiH entity Republika Srpska, however, became merely a protocol companion to Milorad Dodik, instead of the expected second star of the Serbian representation. And this time, she was assigned a role similar to the one at the alleged Trump inauguration dinner. Dodik, of course, will not admit to the diplomatic debacle, and the Pope's gift was merely a drop in the ocean of his defeat.