KOVAČEVIĆ: THOSE WHO MEET WITH SCHMIDT AND THE NONEXISTENT PIC ARE WORKING AGAINST SRPSKA

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 2 /SRNA/ – Serb delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Radovan Kovačević stated today that those who go to meet, on behalf of Republika Srpska, with Christian Schmidt and the nonexistent PIC are working against Srpska.

Kovačević emphasized that Schmidt is an enemy of Republika Srpska who has only one task – to act in a way that results in less Republika Srpska, or no Srpska at all.

He stated that the PIC is a body that does not exist, that it is not provided for in the Dayton Agreement, and that it is in fact an informal structure that has so far served the purpose of diminishing Republika Srpska.

"We clearly stated long ago that we do not recognize the PIC, because it is not part of the Dayton Agreement. We have refused to respond to any invitations from the PIC and have said we want no communication," said Kovačević, who is also the spokesperson of the SNSD.

He told RTRS that the PIC, by announcing that it will talk to everyone in BiH except those who were elected by the will of the Serb people and the citizens of Republika Srpska, effectively said that only the government of Srpska is to blame for everything in BiH – that is, those elected by the people of Srpska.

"If you ask the opposition in Republika Srpska, there were no pressures from Schmidt, from the former US ambassador to BiH Michael Murphy, or from the PIC, no constant efforts supported by Schmidt and Murphy to unitarize BiH coming from political Sarajevo and Bosniak representatives – none of that happened. The opposition in Republika Srpska is fully aligned with that Bosniak policy in blaming Republika Srpska for everything," Kovačević emphasized.

He asked what Republika Srpska’s sin is – that it defended the Dayton Agreement, the rights of Republika Srpska and the Serb people guaranteed by that agreement.

"I don’t like using harsh words, but betrayal is too mild a word to describe the policy of the current opposition in Republika Srpska," Kovačević said.

Representatives of the OHR have invited opposition parties from Republika Srpska (PDP, SDS, and the Justice and Order Movement), the "Troika" parties from the Federation of BiH (SDP, NiP, and NS), and HDZ BiH to a meeting tomorrow in Sarajevo. The meeting is expected to address the current political situation in BiH and unblock the country’s path toward the EU.