MAZALICA TO CRNADAK: STING IS NOT THE PROBLEM, STORM IS

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 3 /SRNA/ - Head of the SNSD caucus in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Srđan Mazalica told PDP President Igor Crnadak that he was trying, through shouting, provocations and personal jabs, to conceal the lack of an answer to the question of why he chose Croatia during the marking of the 31st anniversary of the Storm operation, as the place from which to engage in political attacks against SNSD leader Milorad Dodik and Republika Srpska.

Mazalica said that he was not interested in Crnadak's musical taste or where he spent his free time, but rather in the symbolism of the moment he chose to engage in political debate.

"I did not comment on his musical taste, where he spends his holidays, nor am I interested in that. The problem is that, precisely at a time when Republika Srpska and Serbia are jointly commemorating the suffering of their people in the criminal operation Storm, he decided to run a political campaign against President Dodik and Republika Srpska from Croatia," Mazalica said.

The dispute between the two politicians began after Crnadak criticised President Milorad Dodik on the social media platform X over a video showing him having breakfast in a car, calling it a "performance" and accusing him of demagoguery and hypocrisy.

As it was evident from the post that the message had been written from Croatia, Mazalica reacted yesterday by saying that it was inappropriate for political attacks on Republika Srpska to be launched from that country during the commemoration of the anniversary of Storm.

Crnadak responded last night by saying that he had attended a Sting concert in Pula over the weekend, sharing a video from the concert, and told Mazalica that he could publish information about the properties of certain SNSD officials in Croatia.

Reacting to such a response, Mazalica said that Crnadak was once again trying to shift the focus.

"Instead of explaining why his priority was to mock the president of the largest political party in Republika Srpska, Crnadak is now trying to play the investigator, prosecutor and judge all at once, announcing some kind of spectacular 'discoveries'. Such threats without a single fact have long become the trademark of the politics of Crnadak, Draško Stanivuković and others like them when they run out of arguments," Mazalica said.

He pointed out that Crnadak had once again failed to answer the key question.

"It would have been better for him to answer one simple question: does he believe it is appropriate that, during the days when the suffering of more than 250,000 Serbs expelled from Croatia is being commemorated, he is waging a political battle against the SNSD leader and Republika Srpska from Croatia itself? He has not answered that question, nor will he, because the answer does not fit the narrative he is trying to impose," Mazalica said.

He added that the entire debate was not about who listens to what kind of music, but about whether someone understands the gravity of the moment.

"This is not a question of who listens to Sting and who listens to Baja Mali Knindža. The question is whether someone understands the significance of the date and the symbolism of the moment, or uses even days of national remembrance for daily political marketing. That is precisely the difference that our citizens have clearly seen for a long time," Mazalica said.

In the end, he sent a personal message to Crnadak. "I also like Sting, and I have been to one of his concerts, but in Novi Sad," Mazalica said.