Vučić persuaded Dodik to abandon the referendum

Besides the usual tones of emotional relationship towards RS, characteristic of almost all political elites in Serbia, Vučić pointed out at the celebration of the Day of RS that it is up to Serbia to preserve and be the guarantor of the integrity of BiH, which it does and will do in the future, reports the Patria News Agency.

- The celebration of the Day of RS and the visit of Prime Minister Vučić and almost the entire Serbian Government to Banja Luka was a demonstration that united all Serbs and, in essence, sent a message to the world that Serbia is not giving up on its war spoils. Vučić tried to defend his European image, emphasizing that three nations – Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks – are fated to be together, that they have lived together for centuries and that "we will live together in the centuries to come."

As an EU interlocutor with certain expectations, Vučić forced Dodik to withdraw the threat of leaving the joint Bosnian police and judicial bodies, and before that, to call a referendum. This does not mean that Milorad Dodik will not continue to dispute BiH as a state, which he did on the day of the celebration – Biserko notes.

Biserko believes that Vučić carefully formulates his public stance on RS, however, his problem, as the interlocutor says, is that due to his own inglorious past, he lacks inherent legitimacy.

- If he wants to assert himself as a European leader, Vučić must, with more courage, define the declared policy towards BiH and RS, which is not the clearest, in a way that will guarantee the possibility of a functional BiH. This is certainly not possible without taking an honest stance towards the recent past – Biserko concluded.