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Bosnians Shocked as Mujica Accepts RS Award

June 28, 201607:33
Many Bosnians say Jose Mujica, the popular and humble former president of Uruguay,  should not have accepted the highest decoration from the Bosnian Serb entity.
 
 Jose Mujica receiving the order of RS on Monday from Milorad Dodik. Photo: Facebook.

Bosnian residents reacted angrily to the news that Jose Mujica, the popular former president of Uruguay, on Monday had accepted the Order of Republika Srpska, the highest decoration of the Serb-dominated entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Jose Mujica must be very uninformed about his hosts,” Ines Tanovic, a Bosnian activist from Sarajevo, told BIRN. “Mujica basically stands for values which are exactly opposite to the policies of Milorad Dodik”, she added, referring to the President of the RS.

The RS authorities awarded Mujica with the Order of Republika Srpska “for the triumph of the idea of equality and for his fight for social justice and poor people around the world,” the cabinet of the RS Presidency told the news agency SRNA.

“I am very honoured to be with you today because I am surrounded by good people”, Mujica said, on receiving the award.

“I am aware of the drama of the Yugoslav people. I hope that one day… war will not be necessary to solve problems,” he concluded.

The order of Republika Srpska is the entity’s highest recognition. Created in 1993, it is assigned to people for “outstanding merits”.

In the past, the order was assigned – amongst others – to former Bosnian Serb General, Ratko Mladic, the former Serbian President, Slobodan Milosevic, as well as to former Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Momcilo Krajisnik, both found guilty by the Hague war crimes tribunal, the ICTY.

Mujica visited Republika Srpska on Monday as part of a trip he organised in the region. After visiting Serbia on Saturday and meeting Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, he travelled to Republika Srpska on Monday, and met with Dodik and the film director, Emir Kusturica in Andricgrad, a mini-city he built in the eastern town of Visegrad.

Mujica, who was President of Uruguay from 2010 and 2015, was once a member of the “Tupamaros”, an urban guerrilla group which fought during the 1960s and the 1970s.

During his presidency, he achieved global popularity and helped pioneer legalisation of cannabis, same-sex marriage and abortion in Uruguay.

As the British newspaper The Guardian reported, Mujica became a symbol to many for his frugal lifestyle.

As President of Uruguay, Mujica handed over 90 per cent of his 12,000 dollars salary to poor people and small entrepreneurs, and continued to live in a humble home in the country and drive a 25-year-old Volkswagen Beetle, becoming known as “the world’s poorest president”.

Srdjan Puhalo, a political analyst from Banja Luka, said awarding Mujica was just “a performance” designed to improve the image of Republika Srpska around the world.

“Mujica’s visit to RS was orchestrated by Emir Kusturica to give the RS some kind of visibility around the world”, Puhalo told BIRN, calling the whole idea “a prank”.

Earlier on Monday, Dragan Bursac, a columnist for the Banja Luka-based website Buka, urged Mujica to refuse the award, saying the political class in the RS represented the antithesis of his own ideals.

“The same people who will give you the award … are rich with the money they have stolen from the people for decades,” Bursac wrote.

“The medal that you have been given is not for you … it’s for them, who are exploiting you for their cheap political campaign … and nothing more,” Bursac concluded.