Dodik says will continue political career even if conviction is upheld

He also announced that he intends to continue his political career even if his conviction is upheld.

Dodik’s plan for political survival

In an interview with the Banja Luka-based daily Glas Srpske, published on Friday, Dodik admitted the situation seemed "uncertain" to him, but said he had a detailed plan for what to do should the court uphold the original verdict sentencing him to one year in prison and banning him from political activity for six years for failing to comply with decisions by the international High Representative.

"Even if they bar me from running (for the presidency of Republika Srpska), someone else will run on behalf of the ruling coalition and win. Then I'll become prime minister. They can't stop me from being prime minister, and that's more dangerous for them than being president," Dodik said.

However, he ignored the fact that, under the law, a ban on political activity also means an automatic ban on holding any position funded from the budget, including the role of the entity's prime minister. In such a case, Dodik would not be able to head even a minor entity-level agency.

Failed attempts to undermine state institutions

He did concede, however, that he had failed in his effort to block the functioning of state institutions following his conviction by urging all Serbs working in them to resign.

"It's true, I expected things to go differently. It's disheartening. There are Serbs willing to work for Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina and against Republika Srpska," Dodik said with evident disappointment. He did not miss the opportunity to once again threaten criminal prosecution of Serbs who are not loyal to him, once a special prosecutor's office is established in Republika Srpska to deal with such cases.

International relations and resource negotiations

He also expressed anger towards the European Union, particularly the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, who during her visit to BiH in early April, clearly identified Bosnian Serb leaders as responsible for the country's current crisis.

He claimed that she, like other EU leaders, did not understand what was really happening in BiH, unlike politicians from far-right parties in some European countries.

Dodik voiced confidence that he would soon have the opportunity to build better relations with the United States, that is, with the Trump administration, and speculated that international pressure on Republika Srpska would then ease. He confirmed he was prepared to offer Trump control over a lithium deposit discovered in the entity's territory.

Commenting on arbitration proceedings worth over €1 billion arising from decisions by the Republika Srpska authorities, Dodik insisted that Banja Luka was not shirking its obligations but wanted the state to take action first before the entity settles its debts. He also mentioned Croatian power utility HEP's damages claim against Republika Srpska authorities for around €100 million in compensation for undelivered electricity from the Gacko thermal power plant, the construction of which was jointly financed by Croatia and BiH during the former Yugoslavia.

"The Croats are interested in that, they’re making threats. But we also have the opportunity for a counterattack, when it comes to the Plat hydroelectric power plant, which was built under communism, when we were all one country. During the war, water from the reservoir near Trebinje was released (for Plat), but we didn't get any electricity. An agreement was reached only at the very end of the war. So we're the injured party there. Now we're offering compensation to settle the issue of the Gacko mine and power plant, but the people in Zagreb don't have the determination for that," Dodik said.