Russian ambassador: Resist calls from Washington, they seek to enslave Bosnia and Herzegovina

Since the 1980s, Russia has been the sole supplier of natural gas to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which currently relies on a single pipeline running through Serbia. To reduce the risks stemming from the country’s complete dependence on Russian gas, the administration of President Donald Trump has this year stepped up engagement through its diplomatic network to promote construction of the so-called Southern Interconnection - linking the gas pipelines of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia - which would give Bosnia and Herzegovina access to the liquefied natural gas terminal on the Croatian island of Krk.

The United States has offered to speed up the project by granting a concession to a private American company that would build the section of the pipeline in Bosnia and Herzegovina and operate it for up to 30 years - a proposal accepted by all ruling political parties in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity.

Russia views this plan as a threat to its interests, Ambassador Kalabukhov confirmed in a column published on Saturday by the Banja Luka daily Glas Srpske.

He wrote that the initiative is the result of the “trivial desire of certain international actors to achieve their own commercial interests at any cost and attain specific political goals, which ultimately, to put it mildly, promises no benefit either to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina or to its citizens”.

Kalabukhov claims there is no economically viable alternative to Russian gas, and that the United States - on this issue as on others - is pushing Bosnia and Herzegovina into confrontation with Russia, from which it can only suffer harm.

“In their attempt to achieve absolute dominance over the energy sector and the economy of the region, they (the United States) are in fact trying to enslave Bosnia and Herzegovina, just as they have done with Europe,” the Russian ambassador said, citing assessments that Europe will bear the greatest damage from the energy war and from abandoning purchases of Russian gas and oil.

As evidence for his claims, he pointed to the fate of Serbia’s oil company NIS, which has been placed under U.S. sanctions because of its ties to Russia.

“This situation is yet another striking example confirming that Washington, in its pursuit of absolute control over energy supplies in the region, will not hesitate even to destroy a successfully functioning energy sector of a Balkan state,” Kalabukhov said.

He concluded by calling on the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to look after their own interests rather than those of the United States, offering closer “friendly and close ties” with Moscow.