DODIK ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF DAYTON: Peace is preserved by respecting the agreement, not by arbitrariness and political violence!

The Dayton Agreement is not just a document that stopped the war, but an international treaty that clearly and unequivocally established the constitutional position of the Republic of Srpska, guaranteed its competencies, and created a balance without which BiH, composed of two entities and three constituent peoples, cannot function, stated SNSD President Milorad Dodik.

In a statement to Srna, marking three decades since the initialing of the Dayton Agreement, Dodik pointed out that this balance is today more threatened than ever, thanks to a part of the international community and the Bosniak political Sarajevo and their constant attempts at centralization, unitarization, pressure, threats, sanctions, and political adventures by those who believe that the rights of Srpska can be reduced, outvoted, and ultimately unilaterally abolished.

“The Republic of Srpska received international recognition in Dayton, confirmation of its existence, and institutional strength. It was created before the war and before Dayton, in peace, on January 9, 1992, defended itself in the war, and through the agreement obtained its firm place in the international legal order. Therefore, any weakening of the original Dayton is a direct violation of international law and an open attack on its existence and the survival of the Serbian people in this region,” emphasized the SNSD President.

“Preserving the letter, not the spirit of Dayton, means preserving peace”

Dodik says that on this day they clearly and loudly declare: the Republic of Srpska will not agree to constitutional experiments that would lead to the disappearance of equality among the three peoples and the two entities.

“Preserving the original Dayton, preserving the letter and not the spirit of Dayton, means preserving peace, stability and the dignity of the Serbian people, but also the dignity and stability of Croats and Bosniaks, as well as the two equal entities, Srpska and the FBiH,” Dodik stressed.

He stated that the Republic of Srpska remains committed to peace and determined to defend and protect its constitutional position, identity, and institutions, exactly as written and signed in 1995 in Dayton and confirmed in the Constitution of BiH.

“Dayton cannot be changed through arbitrariness and violence by high representatives, especially self-proclaimed high representatives, nor through unconstitutional actions by political Sarajevo, which for decades has been undermining the international agreement in the desire to turn BiH into an Islamic, Sharia-based state in the heart of Europe,” stated the SNSD leader.

He emphasized that high representatives, without any democratic legitimacy, have for years been rewriting the Dayton Agreement, abolishing the competencies of the Republic of Srpska, imposing laws, amending the Constitution, and openly trampling the international order.

Their arbitrariness, he said, is not an expression of concern for BiH, but pure political intervention in favor of Sarajevo’s unitarist ambitions.

According to him, the greatest irony is that those who swear by “European values” are actually imposing solutions that exist in no democratic system—placing the unlawful decisions of one man above the will of an entire people, which represents nothing less than occupation and protectorate.

“Political Sarajevo, with the wholehearted support of the opposition from the Republic of Srpska, not only supports that protectorate but sees it as the only way to obtain what they have no right to— a centralized state in which the Republic of Srpska would be merely an administrative footnote, a hollow shell and a territory on paper.

That is why every day, even today 30 years later, we witness new attempts to strip Srpska of its competencies, to mourn the ‘Bonn powers’ and to call on foreigners to do the job they cannot achieve through political means,” Dodik recalled.

“Dayton was signed – and it will be defended”

He stressed that Dayton is entirely clear: BiH has two entities and three constituent peoples, and anything beyond that is violence against the agreement, violence against peace, and violence against the rights of the Serbian people.

“Those who violate and destroy it are doing nothing but destabilizing the Dayton BiH they claim to defend. The Republic of Srpska is the only consistent guardian of the original Dayton. And that is why we say: there is no giving up our constitutional competencies, no acceptance of imposed decisions, and no renouncing what was agreed in Dayton and signed in Paris in 1995. Peace is preserved by respecting the agreement, not by diktat and political violence,” Dodik emphasized, recalling the positions of major powers such as the U.S., China, and Russia at the latest UN Security Council session.

He stated that Srpska remains determined to defend the original Dayton, the letter of Dayton, its constitutional position, and the right of its people to decide their own future.

“High representatives, political occupiers, are the harshest violators and destroyers of Dayton, and political Sarajevo is their most obedient contractor. The Republic of Srpska will not accept foreigners writing its laws, nor Sarajevo erasing its competencies. Dayton was signed – and it will be defended, whether anyone likes it or not.

The idea that someone can abolish the Republic of Srpska with a stroke of a pen is political madness, not international law. The Republic of Srpska states very clearly: foreigners will not shape our state, nor will Sarajevo ever get the unitary BiH it dreams of. Dayton is our line that we do not cross, and it will be defended,” concluded the SNSD leader.