After the 2022 elections, there will be no more Milorad Dodik, Dragan Covic and Bakir Izetbegovic, the leaders of three strongest nationalist parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) and the Democratic Action Party (SDA), Zijad Becirovic, the director of the International Institute for the Middle East and Balkan Studies said Wednesday for N1.

According to him, the said leaders were allegedly warned not to run for office anymore.

“Some have already been warned not to run. They are not that young anymore, they can find some medical reason for this. When I say this I’m thinking of these three: Milorad Dodik, Bakir Izetbegovic and Dragan Covic. From 2022, they are not on the [political] scene. It’s very clear to them that if they do not listen, there are ways. Ask them who told them that,” Becirovic said in an interview with N1’s Amir Zukic.

He added that the said leaders “Don’t mean anything to anyone” outside BiH borders which can be seen in the poor and slow coronavirus vaccine procurement in the country.

But the pandemic which we are living in is not just a medical issue, he said.

“The pandemic is an event of great geopolitical changes. In it, we can see where each state is in international relations. Slovenia flunked. Croatia is trying to save itself because it always nurtured parallel diplomacy, and Serbia is the strongest as it can help other countries,” Becirovic told N1.

Speaking about political and financial relations in Bosnia, Becirovic said that the Bosniak-Croat shader Federation (FBiH) entity is financing the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) and the Brcko District.

“[The FBiH] Finance Minister Jelka Milicevic approves this and she hasn’t said anything against it in any official document. [sic] It's a lot bigger game, Dodik and Covic are channelling money. The robbery is conducted via the Indirect Taxation Authority,” he stated. “The RS entity provides 22 percent of all revenues to the Indirect Taxation Authority and in return, it gets 36 percent of the tax return – that’s math, not an art class or music lesson. That’s money. Why is 14 percent of the money given to the RS when it contributes only 20 percent?”

The director of the International Institute for the Middle East and Balkan Studies also said that the EU’s intentions towards BiH were not honest and that this could also have been seen during the 1992-1995 war in the country.

“You know that the EU accepted Bulgaria and Romania overnight and that Croatia smuggled its way in and then they set all possible and impossible conditions for BiH. Then they found Bulgaria’s Boyko Borisov to stop the expansion with the entry of Northern Macedonia and Serbia, and if he can't, then there is France, which has set new rules for joining (the EU),” Becorovic pointed out.

Speaking about Christian Schmidt as a candidate for the new High Representative in BiH, he said that “we should be careful about this German activity.”

“Germany symbolically nominated him on the day of Joe Biden's inauguration, but Germany did not want to stop Borisov from blocking North Macedonia from starting negotiations for joining the Union. Germany didn’t want to interrupt this during its presidency. We had the High Representative from Germany Christian Schwarz-Schilling and the situation worsened with his arrival and represents a turning point for the negative developments [in the country]. Valentin Inzko (the current High Representative) could have passed the Law on the Prohibition of Genocide and Holocaust Denial, even if he was removed immediately, but he would have been remembered as an honest man, but not like this as a man who had done nothing,” he said.

In his opinion, it is difficult to say whether Christian Schmidt would be elected for office because “the German-Russian negotiations are in the background and it is about their interests, not BiH's.”

“All major countries have secret relations with Russia, including Germany. These connections are strong, their relations should not be underestimated, this is about capital. German interests and US interests are quite different. The biggest confrontation between Germany and the United States in the region is in Kosovo. But the American presence in Germany speaks to who the boss is. However, all the great powerful countries, even though they are in confrontation at lower levels, they maintain talks, agreements and cooperation,” he emphasized.

Becirovic also touched upon the criminal flows in the countries of the region, accusing Albanian authorities of allegedly having a direct connection with the crime.

“[sic] Edi Rama's connections with the Albanian mafia are a well-known thing. Albania is an isolated island of crime and is very dangerous for Europe, and that is an immediate danger for Europe itself,” N1’s guest said Wednesday evening.

He added that Albin Kurti is a consistent politician and that he is fighting against everyone else, alone.

“Three years ago, more than a third of his parliamentary caucus resigned. He was dismissed last year, forced by the then US Embassy to resign. The citizens gave him the support in these elections and that consistency would mean a lot to Bosnia’s parties of the centre-left”, he stressed.