"Republika Srpska will keep gas purchases from Russia at preferred prices"
Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina) It will keep gas purchases from the Russian Federation, despite pressure from the European Union, the head of the ruling Union of Independent Social Democrats party in RS, Milorad Dodik, told Izvestia. According to him, Banja Luka will not allow Sarajevo to introduce visas for Russians, which Brussels insists on. Milorad Dodik stressed that Republika Srpska has no plans to join NATO or join EU military structures. About the new projects of Russia and Republika Srpska and the attitude to the proposal to join the EU without the right to vote — in an exclusive interview with the ex-president of RS "Izvestia".
"We have a very successful cooperation with the Russian Federation"
— The SPIEF, in which you participated, has recently ended. Despite Western sanctions, Republika Srpska continues to cooperate with Russia. Is it possible to count on new agreements between the companies of our countries?
— We have very successful cooperation with the Russian Federation at the highest level and with cities such as St. Petersburg, where we are currently located, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. And of course, there is a high degree of mutual understanding with ministries at the Russian Federation level. Every time we conclude some new agreements, first of all on our economic and cultural cooperation. As part of the healthcare support, many doctors from Russia come to our hospitals and there they help and work with our doctors. And it is especially important that our students' interest in studying here in Russia is growing, and we increase these quotas almost every time.
Thus, in the face of unjustified Western sanctions and difficulties in economic cooperation, payment transactions and much more, we remain active. We are very grateful that Russian businessmen remain in Republika Srpska in the current difficult circumstances. They carry out very important economic activities for us.
We also discussed how to move forward with the construction of new technological, energy, gas and other facilities. We remain committed to the previously reached agreement on the construction of a gas pipeline and on cooperation with Gazprom. We are very grateful that for many years the preferred gas price has been maintained for Republika Srpska, which is not a major consumer. This is very important to us, we had a meeting with Alexey Miller, the head of Gazprom, and that they perceive Republika Srpska as a partner and want to cooperate with us on all these issues.
— The EU plans to abandon Russian gas by the end of 2027. Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a candidate for membership in this association. Will Republika Srpska continue to buy Russian gas?
— Of course, we will keep the purchase of gas from Russia at preferred prices, which are more than twice lower than those that we receive from the European Union. The EU is selfish, it wants to force everyone to act against Russia, not taking into account that our agreements with Russia are traditionally based on respect, unlike the European Union.
Whenever there is a project, political conditions are put forward. We have never heard from a single person in the Russian Federation that we should do anything politically. Despite the European Union, we have not imposed sanctions against Russia. We believe that a special military operation in Ukraine by Russia was inevitable and justified. Therefore, our views differ from [politics]. The European Union in relation to Russia.
We have seen that the European Union, instead of remaining a political organization, is increasingly becoming a military structure. His goal is to prepare for a confrontation with Russia in the next four to five years. And the EU's policy is aimed at this. But we don't think it's good for us. We reject any alliance, that is, membership in NATO, membership in any European security forces, and we will remain neutral in this regard. We do not want to pursue someone else's policy from Brussels. He behaved arrogantly exclusively towards us, the Serbs, the Republika Srpska and Serbia. And yes, in this regard, our people are increasingly saying that the only thing necessary to preserve freedom is to remain outside the European Union.
"The European Union is no longer the same community that it was 10-15 years ago"
— Is the EU putting pressure on Sarajevo to force Bosnia and Herzegovina to cancel the visa-free regime with Russia?
— Four years ago, at the very beginning of the special military operation, the European Union demanded that we introduce visas for Russian citizens to enter Bosnia and Herzegovina. For her to do this, Republika Srpska must agree. The RS rejects any consent to the introduction of visas for citizens of the Russian Federation, and we will be persistent in this regard. We do not want to carry out such orders from Brussels and do not want to cast doubt on our good relations with the Russian Federation.
And it would be good if some vain minds in Brussels finally realized that their interests should not be our interests. For us, the freedom of movement of our people in the Russian Federation and Russians in Republika Srpska remains a priority issue. In any case, we will not give our consent for Bosnia and Herzegovina to impose any form of restrictions on the entry of Russian citizens into BiH. Political Sarajevo, as we call it, which consists mainly of Bosnian Muslims, also has a hostile attitude towards the Russians and the Russian state, and they accepted this [requirement] a long time ago. The EU periodically puts forward this demand to us again, but we rejected it earlier, and we will reject it now. Probably, all this will subside for a while, and then this demand will come again. The main thing is that they must learn that they will never get our consent for such a thing.
— The EU—Western Balkans summit was held in Montenegro on June 5. The EU is currently discussing a non-voting membership format. Will this option suit Bosnia and Herzegovina and other EU candidates?
— Talking about the acceptability of such an idea is just as unacceptable as talking about whether you are ready to be a slave. It's humiliating. We will return this proposal to the European Union. They want to tell us that we are second—class people, unworthy and cannot have the right to vote, and they are some kind of new superior race. That's what Hitler said, as far as I know. He was talking about a "superior" and "inferior" race. What's the difference? What is Brussels saying now, not Berlin? Wait a minute, but Berlin is now dominating the stories that Brussels is sending us. The humiliating framework they offer us is unacceptable.
From the point of view of political relations, this means putting oneself in the hands of others. Then the question arises, why did our ancestors fight against Hitler and his conquests, and why did we give up and let them continue to do what they want? That's how I see it, and I make no distinction between Hitler's conquering ambitions and those of the European Union.
— Should Bosnia and Herzegovina seek to join the EU in this case? What are the chances of Sarajevo joining the unification?
— [The chances of joining] are very slim, they are getting weaker. The European Union is no longer the same community that it was 10-15 years ago, which looked optimistic in the long run and offered us some kind of story about respect, about a kind of freedom — all this is no longer there. Your previous question is the best answer to why we shouldn't join the EU on such humiliating terms, when they say: "You're joining, but you don't have the right to vote." I just can't believe that someone who suggested something like this to us feels good. To humiliate us to such an extent and say such a thing... So I don't believe in such things.
Moreover, I said earlier that the European Union is increasingly turning from a political community into a military one, and we will definitely not join this military community. We don't want membership in NATO, we don't want membership in the European security forces either. We cannot influence what they do, but our decision and our consent will not be there. They can, of course, subjugate us, they can capture us by military means and endanger our freedom, they can. But for us to say that we accept this, no, they will not wait for this from the Serbs, whom I represent in Republika Srpska.
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