It is known how obsessed Milorad Dodik is with the Serbian Army, and as a citizen he has the right to various obsessions, but when, as the president of the RS entity, he publicly points out that the strength of that army is also important for the Serbian people in the Republika Srpska, it is ambiguous and not at all harmless.
He said this about the importance on September 20 of this year, after observing the presentation of the capabilities of the Serbian Army at the military airport "Colonel-Pilot Milenko Pavlović" in Belgrade, where he was present at the invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. He then added: "The morale that is created among the people after such displays and the display that can be seen, of course, best speaks of this and attachment, because we want freedom to defend in the Republic of Srpska, especially in Serbia, and that is why we are happy with every progress we see here and which is impressive.” Dodik spoke similarly when in 2023 he was at the presentation of the capabilities of this army in Nis, and in the same year he pointed out at an exercise of the Serbian Army that this army is ready to defend "our Serbian people wherever they are".
Indeed, how can (and should) the capability and equipment of the Serbian Army in another country be important to Republika Srpska, which is an entity in sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina?
This is even more absurd when Bosnia and Herzegovina has its own unique Armed Forces, whose area of responsibility is the entire country, and in which, together with Bosniaks and Croats, there are also military professionals from the Serbian people. He doesn't seem to live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so he ignores these facts, but for those who regularly follow his controversial statements, this is not a surprise.
When Dodik was a member of the BiH Presidency, he said: "One serious political mistake was made, namely the abolition of the Army of Republika Srpska and the formation of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we need to think about how this mistake will be corrected."
In reality, only the Third Infantry Regiment remained from the Army of Republika Srpska, which inherits the tradition of that army. Dodik intended to form an entity army, he even claimed that a law had been written about it, but it turned out, as in the case of some of his other promises, that this was impossible. When asked whether the RS gave up on the return of jurisdiction and the formation of the RS army, Dodik said that the army is not part of the constitutional determination, but of the arrangements agreed by the entities.
With that, he justified himself, realizing that he had exaggerated, but he did not fail to repeat that the RS stands for the demilitarization of BiH because, as he underlined, "allocations for the Armed Forces of BiH are increasing and completely unnecessary." It is indicative that he would like Bosnia and Herzegovina without an army, and he supports the militarization of the Republic of Serbia?
If Milorad Dodik tries to separate Republika Srpska from BiH, is he counting on Serbia's help? Undoubtedly, he is counting on that and hopes that at his call the Serbian Army would cross the Drina and support the RS in secession, but that would be a classic aggression against sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I will remind you that in 1992 Serbia, as part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, carried out an aggression against BiH, because the Novi Sad Corps occupied Vlasenica, Užički entered Višegrad, Podgorički entered Ravno, and parts of the Drina Division entered Zvornik, and we know which were tragic after that. consequences for Bosniaks and Croats, but the aggressors were not without losses.
Admittedly, under the pretext of protecting the peripheral parts of Serbia, two battalions of the Serbian Army were formed in Loznica and Priboj, which brought the army closer to the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The army is already in the renovated barracks in Loznica, and will be in Priboj next year while accommodation is arranged, so it is temporarily located in Kraljevo. The army does not intend to return to Užice, because the military facilities there, together with the command center in the city center, have changed their purpose.
When everything is taken into account, it would hardly be possible to comply with Dodik's "Prekodrina idea" in Belgrade, regardless of Serbia's empathy towards the RS, because there is EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, in case of need, could also be helped by NATO forces. - and in the reserve that recently had a very successful exercise Quick Response.
There is another fact that Dodik is probably counting on. Namely, in 2019, the Serbian Parliament adopted the National Security Strategy and the Defense Strategy of Serbia, in which it was written that the preservation of the Republika Srpska is a priority of Serbia's foreign policy. In Belgrade, they claim that this determination is a consequence of the assessment that there is an attempt to revise the Dayton Agreement, which endangers the position of Republika Srpska, and in Sarajevo they warn that the declaration of a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina as something of special importance for the security and defense of Serbia is an expression of a paternalistic and aggressive policy towards BiH.
Retired general Blagoje Grahovac from Podgorica said in an interview for N1 that emphasizing the protection of BiH. entity of the RS in the Serbian strategies encroachment into the internal affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus an attack on its state sovereignty. And that is why he suggested the Serbs in BiH to raise their voice against that strategy. Of course they won't, and Grahovac concluded: "When it is treated in the National Security Strategy, then it is understood that there is also a defense component, and as soon as there is defense, then there are also weapons."
Military obsessions of Milorad Dodik will remain just obsessions.
Bonus video:
