ŠULIĆ: WITH HIS VETO, DODIK WANTED TO PREVENT PROBLEMS WITH BRIDGE IN GRADIŠKA

BANJA LUKA, DECEMBER 5 /SRNA/ - The Republika Srpska Minister of Trade and Tourism, Denis Šulić, told SRNA that four years ago, SNSD president Milorad Dodik, in his capacity as the Serb member of the BiH Presidency, vetoed the agreement on border crossings with Croatia to prevent problems with the new bridge in Gradiška, and that today, we are paying the price for those who failed to back it.

"I presided over a session of the Republika Srpska National Assembly in 2021 /as Deputy Speaker/ and personally called on opposition MPs to support the veto by the Serb member of the BiH Presidency on the border crossings agreement, which also included the new bridge in Gradiška. They did not support it due to the lowest political motives and ad hoc rejection of everything proposed by Dodik and the SNSD, unaware that today we are all hostages to that decision," Šulić said.

Šulić emphasized that Gradiška, his hometown, has been overloaded for years with traffic at the border crossing in the city center, which often causes dissatisfaction among residents as well as tourists and visitors.

"Talking about the transport of goods and the resulting congestion is unnecessary, as is discussing how much the city’s infrastructure suffers because of it. I believe we are unique in the fact that, for the most banal political reasons, projects are first delayed, then halted after they began, and even when a project is completed, someone still finds a way to block its use," Šulić said.

He noted that he is therefore not surprised by the current new blockages from Sarajevo regarding the opening of the border crossing, as these, he emphasized, were expected, pointing out that this is why supporting the veto on the mentioned agreement was very important.

"Unfortunately, the opposition, blinded by its passionate hatred toward President Dodik, failed to see the problems we could face. But what surprised me more than their misunderstanding was the attitude of a former MP from Gradiška, who considered this issue completely irrelevant and assumed it would resolve itself. Unfortunately, today we all see that it will not," Šulić concluded.