Day 31: Meeting the Very Interesting (and Sanctioned) President of Republika Srpska

6/6/22

Today, we had the chance to meet with the ministers and President of the Serbian part of Bosnia, Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik.

This was truly a rare opportunity to hear about the genuine position or Republika Srpska from the President himself. It really enhanced my comprehension of Bosnian politics and the Bosnian Serb position on the Dayton Accords.

Dodik is quite an important character. He leads the Bosnian Serb part of Bosnia in the center of a tumultuous time politically- the Dayton Accords are being changed, and the Bosnian Serbs want nothing to do with it the reforms, which they were not consulted in making.

Dodik expressed that Republika Srpska wants to return to the constitutional basis of the Dayton Accords. and believes that the day of the Dayton signing should be celebrated, however, now “the Bosniaks think they were fooled.”

The reforms to the Dayton accords are moving to change the constituent entities system. He stated that the Serbs and Croats are against this centralization. This would make them minorities in Bosnia. Bosniak politicians are pushing for a popular vote, since now the Bosnian population is over 50% Bosniaks and they would have a civil majority.

Nobody wants to be a minority, politically or otherwise. There is always the rule of the majority, over the minority. That is even more dangerous here, in the Balkans minorities have a track record of being in especially bad positions- hate crimes, murdering whole families, and organized mass genocide. It's fresh in everyone's memories too. In fact, Milosevic came to power on the phrase "they'll never hurt you again." But an eye for an eye only means we'd all be blind.

Side note: We are seeing this fear of being a minority in the US as many southern conservatives talk about "depopulation," when what they actually mean is white people are having less children and they do not wish to lose their racial majority status.

It is my conclusion that Republika Srpska looks to defend the Dayton Accords since it is what protects them from perceived and real danger, and affords them independence and autonomy in a state where they would now be a minority.

With a little tongue-in-cheek, he said “I am a beneficiary of sanctions from your country.”

He said they (the US) expected me to uphold the reforms instead of the constitution, and when he said he would not, they placed sanctions on him, applying pressure to push him to follow US policy.

What struck me the most and confirmed the disturbing narrative that exists was when he said how could so many (Bosniaks) exist if these mass atrocities happened? (yikes)

Genocide denial is ugly and unacceptable, and sadly it is what many Serb nationalists want to hear.

Not saying he’s the greatest guy ever, especially based on his strong genocide denial, but at least in the past he was one of the Bosnian Serbs in power at the time of Srebrenica who opposed the genocides, and was viewed as more moderate and more favorable by the West. He seems to have refashioned himself in the early 2000's to be more radical in order to be reelected.

Now, the Dayton accords are far from perfect, and were envisioned to be an interim setup to stop the war, and 25 years later, the time for reform has come, but the reform will not succeed if it is unilateral.

Another interesting thing he said was “Bosnia and Herzegovina won’t succeed, that is definite,” and said that it was “not logical to love someone if they are unsuccessful.”

He said how if one people marks their victory, the other marks defeat, especially on days commemorating loss of deaths, the other celebrates. This paints a gruesome picture: I have yet to see people act this way here, but doubtlessly it exists somewhere in the shadows.

On the war in Ukraine, he attributed it to a deeper conflict of values between Russia and the collective West. Bosnia feels the effects of the war through higher inflation- just after they thought they stabilized it. Bosnia decided neutrality in the conflict, but even if they supported a side, they have no military so the point is moot.

According to Dodik, he and his people don’t gain anything from sanctioning Russia, “only more problems.” Much like Serbia, Bosnia is dependent on Russian oil, and Dodik explained, “small powers in the chain of supply cannot reconcile their energy.” He predicts there will be a new world order post conflict in Ukraine, and like in the past, this would be decided by big powers and “the small must find their place.”

We asked what the biggest misconception about Republika Srpska and the situation in Bosnia that the West does not understand. Dodik began by describing different ideologies; the west has a liberal globalist perspective, while in this part of the world, they have strongly gathered local values, and want to preserve their identity.

He also said there is the US-held belief that "if you're not with us, you're working for Putin" and the only legitimate democracies are liberal and Western.

When we were there, they had a film tech documenting our arrival, and they wanted to interview two of the students and our professor.

We knew we would be used for propaganda (the last group that came was too). To me, it also seems like part of why we got to meet such a high ranking individual.

This was an interesting and fun experience, and we ended up in the local news, which was cool to see.. Our hostel owner said look, here you are!

We all are laughing our tails off because of the hilarious misspelling of Jose Contreras. The Cyrillic letters say "Flacego Perez"... LOL 🤣

We call Joey that now because it's so hysterical.

This meeting was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and today I got to see up close and with my own eyes the politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At lunch, we had what may have been everyone's favorite meat plate yet. There was stuffed chicken with cheese and prosciutto on the inside... mmmmm

Anddd, we ate it on a boat restaurant on the river!

I got icecream at the locals' favorite place in Banja Luka on the town square where they have an abundance of soft serve flavors. When I couldn't decide which ones I wanted, the lady just offered me the special, which was a little of everything. Boy, was it good!! I had no idea five flavors in one would be so fun- you never get bored of the flavor you have because every lick is different! The green apple was my favorite.

The best part is all this cost less than 1 USD.

That evening at the hostel, the owner's son brought back a kitten from the street. He was the tiniest thing, barely 8 inches long, and was soooo happy to see us and very affectionate. I cradled him in my arms and he kneaded and purred up a storm. My heart melted!!

They gave him a box to sleep in and some milk and chicken.

Ćao for now!