“We constantly use the term Republika Srpska here. It is high time to say that it is Srpska. That sounds nicer to me, and Republika Srpska can be used in legal terms. In ordinary communication”
In political sense, how satisfied are you with the year 2023?
Republika Srpska has strengthened and secured additional understanding of some of our friends, and on the other hand, the arrogance of those who have not shown themselves to be friends in the past has strengthened.
In any case, the internal political life was quite dynamic and democratic. The institutions did all their work. As in every post-election year, Republika Srpska has shown that it has the capacity and that it can handle it.
What I am satisfied with is the political unity of the entities that are within the ruling structure, and we do not have any important political differences here. Of course, there are some difficulties on the operational level, but on the political level we share almost identical values: about the position of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the political moves we must make. So, in a sense, it made my political life easier.
I can say that everything we wanted to be known about the Republika Srpska is known – in one part of the world this view is negative, in another it is rational and reasonable. As far as we’re concerned, the focus is still on that story. This means that Republika Srpska is politically alive and has strength.
Republika Srpska has strong elements of statehood. It is interesting that in FBiH over 90% of residents do not know who the president of that entity is. Are you satisfied with the visibility of Srpska on the international level, compared to the FBiH?
They know about us. That is correct. They also know about the people who represent the government here. We carried the burden of many processes that took place at the level of BiH. Essentially, they referred to the fact that the authentic expression of the Republic is realized at the BiH level or at the global level. Not to talk about myself – but Dodik is well known. I don’t think there is an office in Brussels that doesn’t know who Dodik is. And to tell you the truth, I should also think a bit to be able to tell you who is currently the chairman of the Federation of BiH.
In my opinion, that position is good and it is crucial that there is no conflict among the top people in Srpska. That is very important.
When you talk about parliamentarianism, we witnessed that the opposition at certain moments did not show an understanding of why a unified position on certain issues is important.
They are in a mood that aims to show at all times that they are not Dodik. Whatever that means to them. And on the other hand, they don’t want to hurt some who they think are their authorities. I understand the position of the opposition, but in some national and state issues there is no exception for Republika Srpska. Such as the issue of the Election Law, which tries to impose and centralize everything at the BiH level. The big question is why the Central Election Commission of BiH would conduct local elections in Republika Srpska. This did not happen in the first years after the Dayton Peace Agreement, when it was authentically interpreted. Now they are trying to force everything to be put in the hands of the CEC of BiH, and we must definitely oppose that. Some technical things are not a problem, but jurisdiction is a problem. The opposition thinks that it should be done on upper level and they always justify their defeats with some thefts, some things, but they themselves know that this is not the case and that it is not a decisive factor in the elections themselves. As it was shown by this situation surrounding the president, when the opposition complained, and the votes were counted in Sarajevo’s Zetra, under the control of the CEC of BiH, where their people are located.
We will always go apart on these issues. At the level of global politics, I think that they would never be able to reach this significance nor would they elevate Republika Srpska. If one Putin says that he shares the views of the leadership of Republika Srpska, whatever anyone thinks about it in the West, I am proud of it. For one small Republika Srpska, whose population represents one side of a large avenue in Moscow, a great Putin says that he agrees with its views. That is, he says it even more beautifully. He says “Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
“We constantly use the term Republika Srpska here. It is high time to say that it is Srpska. That sounds nicer to me, and Republika Srpska can be used in legal terms. In ordinary communication- this is Srpska!
Are you aware of your rating among Bosniaks, ordinary people? You sometimes communicate more vigorously in the political struggle, but this applies to political leaders.
I am not aware, but sometimes people come to me and say – I wish we had one like you. Sometimes I take it seriously, sometimes…
I say that publicly. I really think that Bosniaks, Muslims, are good people. One who was exposed to constant historical detours and paths on which they navigated in different ways. The current political options are not adequate either now or in the future.
The future should be based on the fact that they, as the majority nation, show more understanding towards the smaller nations, Croats and Serbs. The mistake of the Serbs in Yugoslavia was exactly that. Because they wanted dominance. I am saying this in a political sense.
Personally, today I have many friends who are Bosniaks. I’m not going to mention them because they might have a problem somewhere. I am not unfamiliar with Eid, as well as many other things that cause people to come to each other’s houses. They come to my baptismal slava on St. George’s Day. It’s personal. I have sports friends who were with me. I still love to hear from them to this day. In the end, they had the same inconveniences as I did in the disintegration of former Yugoslavia. They moved in different ways. I would never do anything bad to any human, Bosniak, Serb, anyone. And perception of me is always based on my political views. It is a completely different dimension. Here I deal with the political responsibilities and political conceptions of the other party. I have no problem to help, to understand. My problem is that we do not understand each other on a political level, and I would like these collectivities to be respected. If Bosniaks did not exercise that collectivity, they would hardly have any rights. On the other hand, I think they are making a big mistake in attaching themselves to this American story. America left Afghanistan very easily, after far more dramatic events, so they could begin to calculate whether America might leave Bosnia. What then? And because of constant political disagreements, we have come to a position of complete separation.
I think their politicians don’t like it. Regular folks are OK, I love that humour…
Republika Srpska has wasted a lot of time on obstructions that are reflected in appeals, unnecessary court processes? How many good things could have been done for both Serbs and Bosniaks? How to perceive that time?
As lost and wasted. Completely irrational.
It’s a strange thing. There is no place in Europe where Sarajevo politicians do not come and say: “Dodik is Putin’s exponent”. I cannot be anyone’s exponent. Only of this environment and this people. This is not demagogy. I’m that kind of guy.
The moment I saw that the Americans wanted to pull pranks in an insidious way, and that I agreed with the pranks that are historic for the people, I refused – and came to this position.
And now look, now those Sarajevo politicians are walking around the world slandering Milorad Dodik, and let’s say, solely because of Milorad Dodik’s politics, they have the same gas price as they did before this crisis. The amount of 80% of gas that enters BiH is consumed in FBiH. And we’re not asking for any thanks, but that’s an incorrect approach. What’s the problem?
I always tried, Vučić is my witness. When COVID hit, I told him: “Listen, I need 15,000 tons of wheat for flour for this year. The Federation probably needs about twenty thousand. Can I count on 35,000 tons for BiH?” He said yes. I called Džaferović, I said: “Please, I have a chance, if you need it delivered”, and he says to me: “What are you calling me? I don’t know anything. Call Novalić”. I called Novalić, he said: “We need”. I don’t know how much they took, but let’s say it never happened that they went to Saudi Arabia and got a loan there and then called someone from Banja Luka and said: “Hey, you can get a loan. These are the conditions. Try it”. It never happened.
Or let’s say, we are sitting at a meeting where we are discussing the gas pipeline from Azerbaijan, which should go from Greece and enter somewhere near Neum, I take and sign the agreement right away. It bypasses Trebinje, but that’s fine, why would I stop it for you? But I have come to the position that for twelve to fifteen years I have been waiting for the minimum approval for the gas pipeline to pass under the Drina and reach Banja Luka. When I was with Putin this last time, his people said: “Let’s rehabilitate this project, now we need to show that it can be done.” I enter into the arrangement and agree with the “three” that everything will be in order, and what happened – nothing.
And what is happening today? What is happening today is that I have had five companies, just in the past ten days, and I have had over twenty in the past couple of months, who come to me and say we would invest here, we heard that you have a favourable gas price with the Russians. I say: “Yes”. They say: “Would you be able to provide us with the same price, and we would guarantee it for five years and transfer production immediately?”. I say: “Yes”.
I asked the people in Russia and they said – we will provide you with larger quantities at the same price. And then I come to the famous story: where is the gas pipeline? How to get to Banja Luka? Who isn’t allowing it?
Now I could have as many new factories here as you want, and they laugh at it. But definitely, if a thousand cubic meters is priced at $480 here, and $1,500 in Germany, it is not difficult to calculate the difference. And the main energy source in Germany is gas, and that enabled them to be competitors.
Who was your biggest political opponent from the Federation of BiH? Alija Izetbegović, Sulejman Tihić, Fahrudin Radončić, Zlatko Lagumdžija, Bakir Izetbegović…
Tihić. He showed readiness for talks. Quietly, slowly, he achieved his goals.
How do you see Republika Srpska in 2024?
There will be a lot of political turbulence, especially because of the announcements we have regarding property, and the need to defend ourselves, because we believe that if we lose property, we have lost the country and that we will have to make difficult decisions in this regard.
You are the most famous individual in Srpska. Given that you are neither an actor, nor a singer, nor a tennis player, is that good for society?
I am not a nuisance to anyone else. Media are available to everyone in the same way. Believe me, there is no village in Republika Srpska that I do not know. Roads… These guys who follow me are always surprised that I know where the shortcuts are. I love the Republic. I don’t pass through Republika Srpska, I live it. I am ready for any kind of conversation with all people.
There must be a leader. Germany has lost its leader, Merkel, and is now in serious economic problems. France also has more and more problems. In America, you have Biden, and it’s not my choice, I don’t choose him, nor can I replace him, but when you look at Putin when he gets off the plane – he runs up those stairs, and Biden goes and the whole world public is waiting for him to slide down those stairs. It says a lot. The man is smart, but statesmen must be noticed for everything and cannot be the subject of public gossip.
How do you see Republika Srpska in 2030?
I should be the president of the Republic then as well (laughs), but I believe that by then we will have an independent status, regardless of what others think about it. I am convinced of a historical justice. I think it’s fair for us Serbs in this area, we had such a history as we had, only during the Turkish occupation, 137 uprisings were started by Serbs.
I think the key issues for Republika Srpska are its freedom and its status. We still accept to be in BiH if it can be Bosnia with a constitutional arrangement that is prescribed, and not imposed on us.
We are against this unconstitutional arrangement in BiH. Our political actions will go against that. That is without a doubt. We do not share unitarization goals, neither Bosniak nor American. It’s bad for us. It’s disastrous for us and we don’t want to see it.
My success is no longer in what I will do, but in being able to lead a team with a dominant patriotic feeling, in the structure of my party or an opposition party, to continue fighting for that status.
In this turbulent 2023, did you have time for your family?
I think it was less than in previous years. I belong to those proud people who have a settled family situation. I have two children, seven grandchildren and no one causes problems. I think we managed to preserve those weekly gatherings and daily communication and in any case I have no reason to be dissatisfied. And all the people who are part of my life, family, wife, my mother, who is now eighty-five years old, brother, sister, they are all there, and together with other dear people around me, they made sure that I don’t have any problems in these relationships.
Do you have time for yourself? To read a book…
Ever since my student days, I’ve been used to going into the night and reading something. At this point, now if you came to my house, you would see five books of different genres that I am reading at the same time. I read somewhere that it is good for fighting dementia.
I pick up a book that has, say, seven hundred pages, I get halfway through and if I don’t know what I read, I go back and start from the beginning.
Now I am reading a book related to the German operation “Barbarossa”, but in parallel I am reading our books related to politics. I also read court files (laughs). All program documents and relevant articles from foreign media.
What attracts your attention in our media that is not of a political nature?
I am always drawn to the description of some difficult fates, especially when it comes to children. I always stay there, whether it’s on television or social networks. And I am always interested in the possibility of helping there.
What are your three biggest mistakes that you would point out? As in if you knew you wouldn’t do that now.
- I would not trust foreigners, as I did at my beginning.
- It’s a mistake that I didn’t pay more attention to my late father. Only after death did I realize that there should have been more. Unfortunately, now I make the same mistake with my mother, who calls me every day and asks when I will come, and I do or don’t arrive. It could, for example, be the second one.
- And the third… I have never regretted that I was not persistent enough to continue my basketball career in Belgrade, because I was drawn to return to Laktaši and play with my colleagues. I knew at that time, when it was very difficult, to come from Belgrade to play a match on Sunday and return to Belgrade on Monday for the exam.
Today it is not disputed, but then when you have two buses a day, so there are no tickets, so all sorts of things.
I don’t regret it, I had the opportunity to maybe play basketball professionally, but… I decided to study and play with my friends.
Will you write memoirs?
No. That is not my cup of tea.
Are there any intellectuals in Republika Srpska whom you value, who are not in line with the government?
I have no clue.
