US officials will inform Serbian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Željka Cvijanović this week that Milorad Dodik, who was stripped of his mandate as President of Republika Srpska (RS), must withdraw from the political scene, the Sarajevo-based portal Raport reported today.
Cvijanović will be clearly told that Dodik must stop attacking the constitutional order of BiH and accept the decision to hold early elections for the president of Republika Srpska, scheduled for November 23, according to sources from Raport.
The portal also states that before her trip to Washington, Cvijanović appointed Ana Trišić-Babić, Dodik's former advisor, as her advisor, on his orders.
The fact that Dodik wanted Trišić-Babić to be part of the delegation that the Serbian member of the BiH Presidency will lead in Washington is evidence of the deep distrust he has towards Cvijanović, despite their public attempts to dispute such a perception, the Report states.
Cvijanović, who was granted a US visa despite being under US sanctions, was scheduled to fly to Washington on September 1, but the trip was postponed until today. The Report's sources claim that this was done to allow time for all the actions related to the appointment of Trišić-Babić, so that she could travel to the US with Cvijanović.
According to the Report, Dodik exclusively trusts Trišić-Babić when it comes to his political destiny, and all messages she conveys to officials in Washington will serve his political survival.
However, sources for the Report claim that Željka Cvijanović will be told in Washington that Dodik must withdraw from the political scene in BiH and respect the final verdict of the Court of BiH, which sentenced him to one year in prison and a six-year ban on holding office for failing to implement decisions by High Representative Christian Schmidt.
The BN portal announced today that Dodik had several secret meetings with Schmidt over the past 12 months, the legitimacy of which he does not publicly acknowledge. The discussions at these meetings were about Dodik's political fate, according to BN.
Sources from that portal claim that the position of both Brussels and Washington is that Dodik should peacefully withdraw from the political scene, and in return, he would be protected from new legal proceedings.
"It could be in Baku, Belgrade or Budapest, but there can be no more politics. Step back and you will be at peace," Schmidt suggested to Dodik and informed him that Washington and Brussels were behind this stance, according to a source from the BN portal.
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