The masks are coming off: Russian blow to the West via HDZ

Ernad Metaj

The masks fell off. Through the Election Law in BiH Croatia wants to protect Russia's interests in the Balkans. This has long been known and now is only confirmed in Moscow by the Foreign Ministers of Croatia and Russia, Gordan Grlić Radman and Sergei Lavrov. While messages were coming from Moscow that Croats in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina were disenfranchised, Croatian President Zoran Milanović spoke after a long break and stated that this problem could not be solved without Serbs.

Milanović only translated messages from Moscow for us, that Milorad Dodik should be saved through the Election Law. At the same time, Croatia is maliciously giving a boost to the Russian confrontation with the USA and the EU, supporting the thesis that the sanctions are not directed against individuals immersed in corruption, but that they are demonizing the RS.

BiH Presidency Chairman Željko Komšić has clearly warned about this, claiming that Dodik can no longer be saved by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

- The only thing that saves Dodik and his plan to pull apart the state is the adoption of HDZ anti-civilization demands for changes to the Election Law, which means nothing but killing not only European, but even more important, NATO's BiH perspective and dismissing the adopted Reform Program – the reason for Russia to rub its hands and further strengthening of Dodik's separatist policy, concluded Komšić.

Good news is that after the reckless moves of the SDA’s president and vice president, Bakir Izetbegović and Safet Softić, who would again make compromises with the HDZ to the detriment of the state, a voice of reason is heard from that party. The election law does not have to be adopted, said the SDA’s vice president Adil Osmanović.

- What HDZ is asking for is political in nature, because none of the judgments of the five judgments of the European Court of Human Rights has problematized the election of the Croatian member of the Presidency of BiH from FBiH, Osmanović explained.

His proposal to the HDZ is to appeal to the BiH Constitutional Court or the European Court of Human Rights to see if there is real discrimination, or if everything is aimed at further blockade of the state and discrimination against citizens.

Unfortunately, it seems that some politicians from other political options have less reason than Osmanović; the same ones that have been taking the pulse of the public regarding their readiness to help Čović, and that way, as we see, they are saving Dodik. The latest attempt of NIP President Elmedin Konaković, (under the guise of obligation to the EU and the US friends) to break the joint position of pro-Bosnian parties that the Election Law should not be negotiated while the state is under attack, has been denied by most recent messages from Germany, where the top echalons believe that this issue should be put on hold for the time being.

In this context, the messages from Moscow and Zagreb are important as they should sober up some undecided democratic forces in the EU. The US sanctions in BiH are yielding results, new ones have been announced, and the voices saying that the EU should follow them are becoming louder. Obviously, they not only shocked Dodik, but also revealed the extent of Russia's influence in the Balkans, but also in the EU. BiH is not saving the Election Law, its adoption at the request of the HDZ only further destabilizes BiH, and indirectly gives a boost to Russia in its intentions to prevent the expansion of the NATO.

Therefore, additional cementing of the ethnic structure of BiH would be a direct victory of Russia over the West. Advocates of such a concept want to keep BiH in a state of frozen conflict, which is essentially only being postponed.

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