"Bosnia was never state, Serbs were also victims"

Milorad Dodik says the recent commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Sarajevo was another attempt to assign guilt only to Serbs. The president of the Serb Republic (RS) told B92 on Monday that he was not opposed to remembrance of victims and that he deplored all victims of the war, Muslim and Serb, but that the goal of the anniversary of the siege of Sarajevo was to minimize Serb victims. "Bosnia was never state, Serbs were also victims" "It is an attempt to use a political message to foist guilt only on Serbs, that they can only be on the bad side of history and that there are no other facts," Dodik said. According to him, it was "another needless event" which will undermine further trust between Banja Luka and Sarajevo. Dodik asked whether the 11,541 victims of war in Sarajevo also included Serbs killed in camps ran by Muslim paramilitary forces, and accused Bosnia-Herzegovina Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija of "going private with his office" by organizing a siege anniversary reception on April 6. There were prison camps for Serbs in Sarajevo during the war, he continued, while 150,000 people were driven out of their homes, and another 5,000 killed. "I honor each victim, but I must stress that Serb victims are being minimized. Such approach is driving the Serb Republic away from Sarajevo," Dodik added. The post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina is made up of two entities: the Serb Republic (RS) and the Muslim-Croat Federation (FBiH). Now the leader of the Serb entity says that he "does not see a future for Bosnia-Herzegovina", and does not feel that this is his country. "It is historically inevitable for Bosnia-Herzegovina to one day dissolve into its constituent parts, because not even the massive international intervention managed to secure it as a state," Dodik stated, and further noted that Bosnia-Herzegovina "never was a state". "The RS is my state, and I love Serbia more, and see it more as my country, than Bosnia-Herzegovina," said he. Asked to comment on Bosnian Presidency Chairman Bakir Izetbegovic's warning that he might file a lawsuit against him if he persisted at "distorting the facts" about his father Alija Izetbegovic's role in the Second World War, Dodik said that the content of the Islamic Declaration, put together by Alija Izetbegovic, as well as his "engagement" was well-known. "It was his father, not mine, who brought Mujahedin to Bosnia," Dodik said of Bakir Izetbegovic. The RS president once again expressed his support for Boris Tadic's bid to be elected president of Serbia for a third term, as well as for Tadic's Democrats (DS) in the forthcoming elections, and said this was due to a long cooperation between their parties and their "membership in the Socialist International". But Dodik said he had "fair relations" with other Serbian parties as well. He singled out only LDP leader Cedomir Jovanovic to say that he had nothing in common with a coalition led by the LDP, dubbed "U-Turn" - and that he hoped they would not win any seats in Serbia's next parliament. Dodik also stated that he expected Bosnia-Herzegovina to support Serbian FM Vuk Jeremic in his bid to take over as president of the UN General Assembly next fall, adding that it was "customary for regional countries to cooperate on such issues". Milorad Dodik (Tanjug, file) B92 Beta

"Bosnia was never state, Serbs were also victims"

"It is an attempt to use a political message to foist guilt only on Serbs, that they can only be on the bad side of history and that there are no other facts," Dodik said. According to him, it was "another needless event" which will undermine further trust between Banja Luka and Sarajevo.

Dodik asked whether the 11,541 victims of war in Sarajevo also included Serbs killed in camps ran by Muslim paramilitary forces, and accused Bosnia-Herzegovina Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdžija of "going private with his office" by organizing a siege anniversary reception on April 6.

There were prison camps for Serbs in Sarajevo during the war, he continued, while 150,000 people were driven out of their homes, and another 5,000 killed.

"I honor each victim, but I must stress that Serb victims are being minimized. Such approach is driving the Serb Republic away from Sarajevo," Dodik added.

The post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina is made up of two entities: the Serb Republic (RS) and the Muslim-Croat Federation (FBiH).

Now the leader of the Serb entity says that he "does not see a future for Bosnia-Herzegovina", and does not feel that this is his country.

"It is historically inevitable for Bosnia-Herzegovina to one day dissolve into its constituent parts, because not even the massive international intervention managed to secure it as a state," Dodik stated, and further noted that Bosnia-Herzegovina "never was a state".

"The RS is my state, and I love Serbia more, and see it more as my country, than Bosnia-Herzegovina," said he.

Asked to comment on Bosnian Presidency Chairman Bakir Izetbegović's warning that he might file a lawsuit against him if he persisted at "distorting the facts" about his father Alija Izetbegović's role in the Second World War, Dodik said that the content of the Islamic Declaration, put together by Alija Izetbegović, as well as his "engagement" was well-known.

"It was his father, not mine, who brought Mujahedin to Bosnia," Dodik said of Bakir Izetbegović.

The RS president once again expressed his support for Boris Tadić's bid to be elected president of Serbia for a third term, as well as for Tadić's Democrats (DS) in the forthcoming elections, and said this was due to a long cooperation between their parties and their "membership in the Socialist International".

But Dodik said he had "fair relations" with other Serbian parties as well. He singled out only LDP leader Čedomir Jovanović to say that he had nothing in common with a coalition led by the LDP, dubbed "U-Turn" - and that he hoped they would not win any seats in Serbia's next parliament.

Dodik also stated that he expected Bosnia-Herzegovina to support Serbian FM Vuk Jeremić in his bid to take over as president of the UN General Assembly next fall, adding that it was "customary for regional countries to cooperate on such issues".