KOVAČEVIĆ: GERMAN AMBASSADOR FRUSTRATED BY SCHMIDT'S DEPARTURE AGAINST WISHES OF GERMAN GOVERNMENT

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 7 /SRNA/ - The interview with German Ambassador to BiH Alfred Grannas clearly shows, first and foremost, that he is frustrated by the fact that Christian Schmidt had to leave BiH against his own wishes, as well as against the wishes of the German government, said Radovan Kovačević, a Serb member of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

"He says this very clearly and openly," Kovačević said.

He said that Grannas is also expressing frustration over the fact that Schmidt was left without US support.

"The US also said very clearly and openly, and we in Banja Luka know this as well, that Schmidt has to leave BiH. They even told him what would happen to him if he did not leave. He very much took that into account," Kovačević told RTRS.

He stressed that this was one of a series of positive developments that would take place for Republika Srpska and, consequently, for BiH as well.

"It is clear from this interview with the German ambassador that all of this is causing serious frustration within the German government. We also see that they continue to oppose US policy, the change in US policy regarding BiH, and the positions that the United States has stated very openly, including at the UN Security Council. There are also the positions expressed by /Marco/ Rubio, as Secretary of State, and by his deputies and assistants — namely, that the future of BiH can only be built through dialogue among domestic actors.
That means three equal constituent peoples and two entities," Kovačević stressed.

He assessed that Grannas's interview was, first and foremost, undiplomatic, unprofessional and arrogant.

"I am never pleased to see any ambassador in BiH, regardless of which country he represents, behaving as if we are tenants in their country, rather than them being diplomats in our country," Kovačević said.

Kovačević said that it is worrying when one reads an interview with any diplomat in which they speak about sanctions and about the fact that more EU countries should have imposed sanctions on President Milorad Dodik.

"Why? Did Milorad Dodik in any way harm the interests of any of those countries or the peoples in those countries? He did not. And that is something that is very clear. He was only fighting to protect and preserve the interests of his own people. Then they say that he harmed the interests of BiH. But who are you to determine what the interests of BiH are? And you say that they were harmed by someone who is an elected representative of the people and citizens of Republika Srpska, and also of BiH, where he has the highest democratic legitimacy," Kovačević said.

He said that their problem was that they had persecuted President Dodik in every possible way.

"You engaged in a political witch hunt, you wanted to do everything you could to remove that man from political life. Then someone stronger than you appeared in the end, someone who told you that this could no longer continue, who told your Schmidt that he no longer had his support, and who has very serious communication with Milorad Dodik and continues to work with him on how things in BiH will unfold in the future," Kovačević explained.

According to him, that is what frustrates them.

"I also see that he talks about elections, practically telling people who they should vote for. He says he will not say it, but he says that changes are needed. Of course, those who did everything against Republika Srpska, who did everything to make it lose all its rights and its autonomy, turning it into an empty shell, are now also demanding that those who prevented them in their efforts and defeated them be removed," Kovačević said.

He said that this was something that was completely clear.

"We also hear him talking about the new electoral technologies imposed by Schmidt and presenting them as some kind of value. Would it be acceptable in Germany, or in any other European country, to hold elections in a manner that none of the participants in those elections had agreed to and had given their consent to?" asked Kovačević, who is also the spokesperson for the SNSD.

He added that these were simply unbelievable things.

"I believe and hope that the time will come when diplomats in BiH will begin to behave normally, in accordance with their diplomatic mandates, and will stop acting as tutors, because the time when you imposed your will on the Serb people in Republika Srpska, and on everyone else in BiH, has finally passed," Kovačević said.