Serb member of Bosnian presidency criticizes Nikolic

It is interesting that Mr Ivanic has made this intervention. He clearly believes that Nikolic sees attacks on Dodik as attacks on the RS, as does Dodik himself, and that this is unacceptable. I find attacks on a whole entity, the majority of whose citizens are normal law abiding people, to be unacceptable and unhealthy for the future of Bosnia. However, Dodik often speaks on behalf and in defence of himself and his cronies rather than the entity of which he is President and it is in this capacity that he is most often criticised, at least by the IC. I have often spoken about the rampant corruption across the political spectrum in Bosnia, which might include Ivanic himself. This is the foremost problem facing the country because huge sums of money are going missing from an economy that can ill afford it. When or if the people feel that they can place some trust in their politicians and that the country is trying to rid itself of corruption and nepotism perhaps some progress can be made. People like Dodik, Covic and Izetbegovic represent the past not the future but I'll wager a good sum now that the group of politicians of which these three are leading representatives is still holding the strings after the 2018 elections. You get what you vote for............ (or abstain from).

(ned taylor, 4 January 2016 20:40)

Corruption, is rife throughout the Balkans not just in BiH. It’s also a problem in all former communist countries and this is not helped by the fact that the west feeds that corruption. Kosovo is one excellent example of corruption gone viral and fully supported by the west.
For years the west diverted more funds to the Federation than RS and despite receiving less, RS has done a lot more than the Muslim/Croat entity (not saying there is no corruption in RS, but it did better with the little it had). Now the “IC” wants a united BiH because the Federation’s coffers are near empty and the “IC” is trying to sell a single BiH as the road to “prosperity”. People have heard this too many times and don’t believe it any more.
The fact is no amount of electing the “right” people to office will help BiH. What should have happened after the Berlin Wall fell was a Marshal-style Plan for all of Eastern Europe, but that was not on the western agenda as they wanted cheap and plentiful labour. Now they have this mess and have to continue to fund it.
The “IC” have created their own bed and now have to sleep in it.

SJ: I have repeatedly mentioned corruption as being rife throughout the Balkans including Romania and Bulgaria. I am not sure the ordinary citizens of the RS would agree with you that the entity has done particularly well with the money it has received. The money allocated by the IC was based on need. The infrastructure of the Federation was in greater need of fixing and therefore needed more money. In an ideal world Bosnia would be a unitary state but the main IC actors are aware that Dayton is not going to change (including no RS independence or 3rd entity) and yes, you are right, they have made their bed and will have to lie in it. Unfortunately the public are lying in it too.

Mladen Ivanic = Vuk Brankovic

(ned taylor, 5 January 2016 12:47)

Corruption in Romania and Bulgaria has been nurtured by the west. These countries are in a worse position than Serbia and I have seen that first hand. They have not been at war. Poland, which I have heard would have achieved the same level of economic advancement if it was outside the EU, has over 2 million citizens working or looking for work outside their country – I don’t call that a gleaming success story.
People in the Balkans are years ahead of western officials, mentally anyway. They don’t believe in this myth of a better life. They see that Hungary is no better off and they are also in the EU. Today the west does not have the same resources it had at their disposal they had back in the 1990s.
On the issue of allocating money on a needs bases, more was given to the Federation on the pretext that they needed it, but that entity squandered it and the IC was well aware what was going on.
BiH will never be a unitary state, this is only the imagination of the west. You can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
As far as RS remaining in BiH, that all depends if funds keep coming from the EU. That is all that keeps RS there.

What keeps the RS in BiH is a) the Dayton Agreement and b) the fact that Serbia itself is looking to join the EU even though people in the Balkans are so much cleverer than the rest of us. So clever in fact that large parts of former Jugoslavia still lie in ruins as a result of the 1990s conflicts. By all means disagree with me and other non- Balkan contributors but don't flatter yourself that you are more intelligent than we are, the evidence does not support that assertion.

More hypnosis from the liars sitting in central government.

Once again for those who want us to forget:

From Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina

"Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. However, the central government's power is highly limited, as the country is largely decentralized and comprises two autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, with a third region, the Brčko District, governed under local government. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 federal units – cantons."

And additionally,

"The country is a potential candidate for membership to the European Union and has been a candidate for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation membership since April 2010, when it received a Membership Action Plan at a summit in Tallinn.[20] Additionally, the country has been a member of the Council of Europe since April 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment in July 2008."

Dodik is the leader of Republika Srpska and Belgrade would not have anything to do with him if he was not. Other contenders in the RS are to be expected, all of them Serbs, we would hope. This is none of the central government's business, but certainly the business of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia who must have relations with B&H.

I should point out that my previous comment was aimed at SJ not at all contributors to this site. He/she believes that we Westerners are so much less intelligent than our Balkan colleagues and I beg to differ.

(ned taylor, 5 January 2016 18:03)

There is a misunderstanding here. What I mean is that the people in the Balkans have had far more experience with being given promises that never eventuate. The communists were experts in that area. It had nothing to do with intelligence.
The west was using the same methods as the communists and people could see through them. As I said before if the west had a Marshal plan for eastern Europe a lot of lives would have been saved, but they required cheap labour.

politics..

(ned taylor, 4 January 2016 20:40)

Corruption, is rife throughout the Balkans not just in BiH. It’s also a problem in all former communist countries and this is not helped by the fact that the west feeds that corruption. Kosovo is one excellent example of corruption gone viral and fully supported by the west.
For years the west diverted more funds to the Federation than RS and despite receiving less, RS has done a lot more than the Muslim/Croat entity (not saying there is no corruption in RS, but it did better with the little it had). Now the “IC” wants a united BiH because the Federation’s coffers are near empty and the “IC” is trying to sell a single BiH as the road to “prosperity”. People have heard this too many times and don’t believe it any more.
The fact is no amount of electing the “right” people to office will help BiH. What should have happened after the Berlin Wall fell was a Marshal-style Plan for all of Eastern Europe, but that was not on the western agenda as they wanted cheap and plentiful labour. Now they have this mess and have to continue to fund it.
The “IC” have created their own bed and now have to sleep in it.

(ned taylor, 5 January 2016 12:47)

Corruption in Romania and Bulgaria has been nurtured by the west. These countries are in a worse position than Serbia and I have seen that first hand. They have not been at war. Poland, which I have heard would have achieved the same level of economic advancement if it was outside the EU, has over 2 million citizens working or looking for work outside their country – I don’t call that a gleaming success story.
People in the Balkans are years ahead of western officials, mentally anyway. They don’t believe in this myth of a better life. They see that Hungary is no better off and they are also in the EU. Today the west does not have the same resources it had at their disposal they had back in the 1990s.
On the issue of allocating money on a needs bases, more was given to the Federation on the pretext that they needed it, but that entity squandered it and the IC was well aware what was going on.
BiH will never be a unitary state, this is only the imagination of the west. You can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
As far as RS remaining in BiH, that all depends if funds keep coming from the EU. That is all that keeps RS there.

Mladen Ivanic = Vuk Brankovic

It is interesting that Mr Ivanic has made this intervention. He clearly believes that Nikolic sees attacks on Dodik as attacks on the RS, as does Dodik himself, and that this is unacceptable. I find attacks on a whole entity, the majority of whose citizens are normal law abiding people, to be unacceptable and unhealthy for the future of Bosnia. However, Dodik often speaks on behalf and in defence of himself and his cronies rather than the entity of which he is President and it is in this capacity that he is most often criticised, at least by the IC. I have often spoken about the rampant corruption across the political spectrum in Bosnia, which might include Ivanic himself. This is the foremost problem facing the country because huge sums of money are going missing from an economy that can ill afford it. When or if the people feel that they can place some trust in their politicians and that the country is trying to rid itself of corruption and nepotism perhaps some progress can be made. People like Dodik, Covic and Izetbegovic represent the past not the future but I'll wager a good sum now that the group of politicians of which these three are leading representatives is still holding the strings after the 2018 elections. You get what you vote for............ (or abstain from).

More hypnosis from the liars sitting in central government.

Once again for those who want us to forget:

From Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina

"Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. However, the central government's power is highly limited, as the country is largely decentralized and comprises two autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, with a third region, the Brčko District, governed under local government. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 federal units – cantons."

And additionally,

"The country is a potential candidate for membership to the European Union and has been a candidate for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation membership since April 2010, when it received a Membership Action Plan at a summit in Tallinn.[20] Additionally, the country has been a member of the Council of Europe since April 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment in July 2008."

Dodik is the leader of Republika Srpska and Belgrade would not have anything to do with him if he was not. Other contenders in the RS are to be expected, all of them Serbs, we would hope. This is none of the central government's business, but certainly the business of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia who must have relations with B&H.

SJ: I have repeatedly mentioned corruption as being rife throughout the Balkans including Romania and Bulgaria. I am not sure the ordinary citizens of the RS would agree with you that the entity has done particularly well with the money it has received. The money allocated by the IC was based on need. The infrastructure of the Federation was in greater need of fixing and therefore needed more money. In an ideal world Bosnia would be a unitary state but the main IC actors are aware that Dayton is not going to change (including no RS independence or 3rd entity) and yes, you are right, they have made their bed and will have to lie in it. Unfortunately the public are lying in it too.

What keeps the RS in BiH is a) the Dayton Agreement and b) the fact that Serbia itself is looking to join the EU even though people in the Balkans are so much cleverer than the rest of us. So clever in fact that large parts of former Jugoslavia still lie in ruins as a result of the 1990s conflicts. By all means disagree with me and other non- Balkan contributors but don't flatter yourself that you are more intelligent than we are, the evidence does not support that assertion.

(ned taylor, 5 January 2016 18:03)

There is a misunderstanding here. What I mean is that the people in the Balkans have had far more experience with being given promises that never eventuate. The communists were experts in that area. It had nothing to do with intelligence.
The west was using the same methods as the communists and people could see through them. As I said before if the west had a Marshal plan for eastern Europe a lot of lives would have been saved, but they required cheap labour.

politics..

I should point out that my previous comment was aimed at SJ not at all contributors to this site. He/she believes that we Westerners are so much less intelligent than our Balkan colleagues and I beg to differ.