IF THERE IS A NEED TO MODERNIZE DAYTON - WE ARE READY, BUT NOT BY DECREE, RATHER THROUGH DIALOGUE

BANJA LUKA, MAY 21 /SRNA/ – The President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik emphasized that Republika Srpska does not believe that the Dayton Agreement is dead or failed, but that it has been reinterpreted beyond recognition by those who never signed it and have never respected its principles.

"This is not just our opinion. It is the position of legal experts across Russia, China, Europe, and the United States. It is a reality quietly acknowledged in diplomatic cables and legal analyses. And it is a reality that must now be spoken out loud," President Dodik stated in his address to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, as fully conveyed by SRNA:

"We are not extremists. We are not obstructionists. We are not undermining Dayton. We are trying to preserve it. We are not merely signatories of this agreement — we are a party to it, its guardians and protectors.

We are a people who know what the struggle for freedom means — because we paid the highest price for it, with the lives of our sons and daughters.

Dayton is our armor, our defense, and our shield against all those who think that with a single signature, a single decision, or a single dictate they can erase what was built with blood.

We are not only defending our rights - we are defending peace. And by defending peace, we are defending our people's right to remain who they are, to speak their language, to celebrate their holidays, to be proud of their history, and to remember and commemorate their suffering.

Dayton is not just a peace agreement - it is a seal on our freedom. It is a promise that Republika Srpska remains permanently rooted in this land.

We are not just defending our territory - we are defending the very principles on which BiH can function as a community of equal peoples.

We adhere to what was agreed upon in 1995.

We do not accept the interventions of unelected and unconfirmed officials who are accountable to no one — who treat our country as their personal project, when in reality, it is our future at stake.

And if there truly is a need to modernize Dayton, we are ready - but only if it is done the right way: not through decrees, not through pressure, not through interpretations and foreign interventions.

Only if it is done through dialogue, through amendments, and with the agreement of the parties that signed the original accord — not at the whim of those who arrived decades later."