Republika Srpska Premier Dodik Discusses Position of Serbs in Bosnia with Israeli President Peres

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Israeli President Shimon Peres understands the position of the Serb people in Bosnia-Herzegovina and will endeavor in all contacts to additionally clarify the situation in the region, Republika Srpska Premier Milorad Dodik said this week. The leaders met in Israel on Monday.

Dodik said that he and Peres had discussed the situation in the Balkans, and that he had, in turn, familiarized himself with the situation Israel was facing in its efforts to preserve stability and its state identity.

After meeting Peres, Dodik reported that the Israeli president had declared Bosnia-Herzegovina must respect the will and desires of the people and preserve stability and peace.

"It is obvious in Republika Srpska that the international community and the High Representative have in a way been applying political and legal violence. I believe they altered the Dayton peace agreement by promoting the spirit of Dayton, but not the letter of Dayton, which resulted in people in Bosnia-Herzegovina doubting the possibility of any kind of arrangement promoted by the international community as a whole," Dodik said.

Dodik pointed out that he and Israeli president Peres saw eye to eye on many issues, especially in connection with Turkey's engagement in the Balkans, which is evidently growing. Dodik said it is obvious that Turkey is engaged on the side of the Bosniaks.

"We agreed that Turkey had likely drawn up an action plan in order to allegedly preserve Bosnia-Herzegovina's territorial integrity, but actually promoting the principle of Bosnia-Herzegovina's centralized government, which Turkey believes should be strengthening and creating a unitary state in this region," Dodik said.

The Republika Srpska premier said that Peres' understanding of this situation was quite evident, because Israel was facing a different kind of relationship with Turkey than in past decades.

Dodik added that he stressed in his meeting with the Israeli president that the Serb side was not behind certain votes against Israel's interests in the UN Security Council, of which Bosnia-Herzegovina is a member.

"This was a good opportunity for me to explain that the Serb side was not behind this vote. It transpired once again that Bosnia-Herzegovina is not well coordinated, in view of the fact that voting in the UN is conducted without an agreed procedure and coordination of policy. How is it possible that Bosnia-Herzegovina should vote against the interests of the Serbs in Bosnia, as we are not interested in backing anything at the UN that would jeopardize Israel's interests?" the Serb Republic premier said.

This material is circulated by Quinn Gillespie & Associates on behalf of the Republika Srpska, for which QGA is registered as a foreign agent with the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., where a registration statement and additional materials are available for public inspection.

SOURCE Mr. Gordan Milosevic, Government of the Republika Srpska