Schmidt condemns Izetbegovic and Dodik's statements: ‘This must end’

(Patria) - High Representative Christian Schmidt condemned in the strongest terms the bellicose statement by the First Deputy Speaker of the BiH House of Peoples and Democratic Action Party (SDA) leader, Bakir Izetbegovic, at the party event in Hadzici on 25 July 2022, the High Representative’s press office said Thursday.

“Warmongering and inflammatory statements, such as this one by Mr Izetbegovic, are dangerous and hark back to the tragic conflict in the 1990s. They spread fear amongst all citizens, add to tensions, and in no way contribute to the promotion of cooperation, stability, and reconciliation in the country. Mr Izetbegovic, together with all political leaders, should work on finding ways to keep the youngest and the brightest in the country instead of advocating for robots to replace them,” the High Representative said. “We have heard a lot more reasonable statements in the past, come back to them!”

During his speech at the party meeting in Hadzici, speaking about the strength and military power and the topics of worst-case scenarios, Zetbegovic said there are answers to everything.

“We counted ourselves. We counted how many hunters we have and how many young people there are and how many instructors we have for drones and so on. I won't go any further, but I just wanted you to know this,” said Izetbegovic.

He also touched upon the fact that Bosnia is experiencing a massive brain drain that is beginning to be felt by the local economy stating that people should not worry because they can overcome everything and that the authorities would compensate for the departure of youth through purchases and imports of “hi-tech robots” who would fill the gaps and make up for the missing labour force.

These statements caused a wave of condemnation from all parties in the country, calling them reckless and irresponsible. Foreign embassies and international organisations also condemned Izetbegovic and urged all political leaders to lower the tensions and turn to Bosnia's more pressing problems.

The High Representative noted that irresponsible rhetoric must stop and urged all political leaders and officials to focus instead on the common goal of making BiH a good home for all its citizens:

“This vicious circle of action and reaction – as exemplified when Mr Izetbegovic’s statement was almost immediately followed by another irresponsible statement from BiH Presidency member and SNSD President, Milorad Dodik – must stop! There is much more important work to be done.”