US Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Michael Murphy said today that the leader of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Bakir Izetbegović is undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement and state institutions, attacking the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the decisions of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kristijan Šmit.
"Izetbegović and some from the SDA talk about state institutions and the Office of the High Representative (OHR) the way (Republika Srpska President Milorad) Dodik talks about them," said Murphy in an interview with the Sarajevo newspaper "Oslobođenje".
In his words, "when you attack the State Court, because you don't like its verdict in a criminal case involving SDA cadres due to abuse of position, it undermines that institution, just like undermining the Dayton Agreement when you attack the OHR and demand its closure , due to some decisions of the High Representative".
"You can't function in such a way that judgments for people you don't like are OK, and judgments for people you like are not OK," said the American ambassador.
Murphy compared the positions of Izetbegović and Dodik, stating that Dodik claims that he was attacked because he is a Serb, just as Izetbegović, when he and the SDA are under fire, says that it is because they are Muslims.
"It's not about that at all... When we talk about the endemic corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the threat it poses to the democracy in the country, the progress of the country and the citizens, it's a problem that applies to anyone who is involved in such activities, was it's Dodik, Izetbegović or (HDZ BiH leader Dragan) Čović," the ambassador said.
According to him, irresponsible rhetoric and criminal behavior cannot be justified by belonging to an ethnic group.
Speaking about the presidential elections in the USA and Dodik's accusations that he is working against the Serbs because he belongs to the Democrats, Murphy said that he has been a career, professional diplomat for 34 years, that he is not a member of any party, but a civil servant of the USA.
"My job is to implement the policy of the American president, whoever he is, and I did that all the time in BiH. I did that at my job in the previous years and during the first Trump administration, when I was the deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European questions," he said.
According to him, the US policy towards BiH was and is bipartisan because "for the last 30 years, BiH has had the support of the president of both the Republican and Democratic parties, so it was supported by President (Barack) Obama and (Bill) Clinton and (Donald) Trump and (Joseph) Biden. It is support for multi-ethnicity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Murphy.
He added that the USA wants BiH to be integrated into the Euro-Atlantic institutions, and the prerequisite for that is that it has an efficient government.
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