Why should pro-Bosnian politics support Dodik in his intention to have Putin rid us of EUFOR!?

Written by: Rasim Belko

It is not easy to say that Milorad Dodik is right. In fact, that is a sentence many in Sarajevo would swallow like a dry bone in the throat. But, when it comes to EUFOR and its senseless posturing on the stage of the Bosnian tragedy, perhaps the time has come to swallow that bone as well – even if nothing remains but the bitter taste of truth.

Dodik has announced that he will ask Putin to block the extension of EUFOR's mandate at the UN Security Council. And now, automatically, pro-Bosnian politicians and media are raising red flags. Because pro-Bosnian politics and the public opinion that follows it react automatically to everything Milorad Dodik says or does, as they themselves are incapable of making a single move that would force Dodik to react.

If we look at the spectrum of public opinion in Bosnian-Herzegovinian society created in Sarajevo, it is clear that everything is subordinated to analysis and commentary, while the definition of strategic action has not existed, does not exist, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for it to emerge. Media under the patronage of the two Sarajevo political blocs are racing to open space for alternatives to Dodik, fully aware that these alternatives could fit their voters into two mediocre train compositions.

They cannot get rid of Dodik, but they burn with the desire and need to oppose him through the media and social media space, because they have long accustomed their audience to being fans in a match about their own destiny.

And here is why Dodik's potential request for the abolition of EUFOR is actually more pro-Bosnian than separatist.

EUFOR is not the guardian of Bosnia and Herzegovina. EUFOR is the guardian of peace, but not the peace that means life, but the peace that means the status quo. And the status quo in Bosnia and Herzegovina is simple: the RS does what it wants, the HDZ does what it wants, and Bosniaks fight against their own walls and fences.

Let us look at the facts. Throughout the year, Dodik raised tensions, caused crises, threatened secession, attacked the Constitutional Court, denied genocide... and EUFOR? Nothing. Silence. Even when Dodik openly invites them to stand on the inter-entity line, to underline the division, they remain silent. Silence, we know, in politics is most often a sign of consent.

And then, when Bosniaks in Stolac start fencing off the site of a future cemetery, lo and behold – here they are, EUFOR patrols, faster than the police, faster than municipal services, there to "prevent an incident." So, in one place where the right to dignity is defended, they are lightning-fast present, but where the state is attacked – they are nowhere to be found.

Can we then be sure that, in the event of a more serious escalation, EUFOR will not stand exactly where Dodik wants, between the entities, and then the international community will say, here is the solution, Bosnia is impossible, let us peacefully separate them. They are not interested in the state, they are interested in "stability." And stability, gentlemen, can also be achieved through divorce.

That is why pro-Bosnian politics, no matter how difficult it is, must admit that Dodik this time is saying something that can be useful for Bosnia and Herzegovina itself. Not because he wants it, of course he does not, but because it is the truth. And the truth is: EUFOR has become a problem, not a solution.

Paradoxically, Dodik wants EUFOR to leave because he believes it will open the door to secession. Pro-Bosnian politics should support this, because it will close the door to the possibility of peacefully carrying out secession. Without EUFOR and their false "guardianship," responsibility for peace and security returns where it belongs, to the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its true allies, not to bureaucrats from Brussels who sit on their salaries and wait for orders to do nothing.

Therefore, it is time for pro-Bosnian politics, instead of reflexively opposing everything Dodik says, to start thinking strategically. Because perhaps precisely in his request lies the chance to expose the lie of EUFOR's "peace mission."

After all, is it not the right time for Bosniaks, at least once, to support Dodik – but not him as a man, but his gaffe by which he would himself unmask the international community?

Bosnia and Herzegovina today does not need EUFOR that sleeps in its base and patrols cemeteries. It needs a force that will oppose separatism. And until that force comes, and it will come when it begins to rely on itself, it is better for EUFOR to leave than to stay and pretend to protect us.

All the more so because we have the bitter experience of genocide in enclaves where peace and security were maintained by international guardians!