The former ambassador of the United States of America to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Michael Murphy, expressed his views on the recent decision of the US Treasury Department to remove sanctions from Milorad Dodik, the former president of the RS, as well as his associates and companies connected to the regime.
The decision has drawn mixed reactions, and Murphy’s comment provides insight into the broader political and geopolitical implications it could have. According to him, the lifting of sanctions does not necessarily mean a relaxation of international pressure, but can be part of a strategy that seeks to achieve the abolition of anti-Dayton legislation in the RS and ensure that the authorities of the RS recognize the authority of the key institutions of BiH.
“I have no reason to think that the administration’s public explanation for the lifting of sanctions is disingenuous. I think that this administration’s efforts to use sanctions to secure the repeal of the anti-Dayton and unconstitutional legislation by the RS National Assembly should be applauded.
This is in the interview Journal said the former American ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Michael Murphy, answering the question of what, in his opinion, is the real reason for the lifting of sanctions against Dodik and others.
“There is no doubt that this represented the withdrawal of the ruling coalition in the RS, regardless of how they try to present it. The ruling coalition in the RS accepted and recognized the legitimacy and authority of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the three international judges prescribed by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On these issues, Mr. Dodik lost,” said Murphy.
He said that the international community has a long history of making bad deals with Dodik.
“I saw it for the first time when I worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a political adviser at the American embassy from 2006 to 2009. During that period, Dodik used the High Representative and some high-ranking officials of the European Union in connection with the Law on the Council of Ministers and police reform, making promises that he never fulfilled in exchange for easing international pressure aimed at holding him accountable for anti-Dayton behavior,” said Murphy.
He adds that Haris Silajdžić skilfully helped Dodik in connection with the police reform in deception, but, as he says, his essential point still stands:
“If there are no further measures to hold the RS ruling coalition accountable and if Dodik continues to implement his anti-Dayton agenda, then this new agreement will fail just like the previous ones.”
“Despite that, I don’t think the Trump administration is made up of people who are as naive or blind as the people who made those deals. It would be extremely unreasonable of Dodik and his allies to persist in rhetoric and actions that portray the Trump administration as ridiculous. President Trump does not like to be deceived,” said Murphy.
