DODIK: APPOINTMENT OF HIGH REPRESENTATIVE MUST BE CONFIRMED BY UN SECURITY COUNCIL

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 17 /SRNA/ – SNSD leader Milorad Dodik has stated today in Banja Luka that the appointment of a High Representative in BiH must be confirmed by the UN Security Council and accompanied by a limited mandate, otherwise the appointment will not be acceptable to Republika Srpska.

"We have long said that the Peace Implementation Council /PIC/ has no authority to decide on the High Representative. For us, it will be unacceptable if only the PIC decides on the High Representative", Dodik said at a press conference.

He stressed that the Office of the High Representative /OHR/ should have been closed long ago.

"The existence of the OHR and the High Representative is an acknowledgment that BiH is not a sovereign country but a protectorate. It suggests that the country needs mentors, while we are fighting to demonstrate that this is not the case", Dodik said.