Efendić: If you say one thing and do another, citizens see it quickly

(Patria) - Leader of the Party of BiH Semir Efendić was a guest on the Federal Television's Dnevnik D, where he spoke about election results, plans, and the political and security situation in our country...

At the beginning of the show, he commented on media reports about the existence of camps "where Russians were trained for riots in Moldova".

Now it is clear why Dodik should not have been part of the state government

- I only have information from the media that we could see. The only comment on that is that the security structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina is quite porous. So it is quite possible for various groups and individuals to slip through, pass within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and carry out certain activities - said Efendić.

He points out that the police security system is broken down into entity police forces, cantonal police forces, the Border Police, SIPA, numerous police agencies, among which coordination is very questionable, and it is possible that such things are happening.

- It is perhaps worth noting here that there is probably no politician in Europe who shows more affinity and has more contacts with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, than Milorad Dodik. He also meets with the President of Belarus, and it cannot remain only rhetoric. However, sometimes something concrete must be done.

If they ask him for a favor, he is probably in a situation where he has to fulfill such requests. So I believe it is possible, but here is also an opportunity for our country's security agencies to show their readiness to react to this situation.

Once again, it is clear why, in fact, Milorad Dodik should not have been part of the state government, why he should not have been given a position in OSA, where he got the position of the second man, and it is natural that such an agency would then be immune to such phenomena, react to them less, or not react at all, not prevent them.

This information does not surprise me, and it shows us that our country's security agencies are not at the level they should be - says Efendić.

He believes that Bosnia and Herzegovina will manage to cope with this, and it is, he adds, a matter of some kind of secrecy, some small favor that Milorad Dodik provides to his partners.

- I believe that our security agencies will manage to react adequately, so that it does not endanger the security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But it is certainly a good indicator or alarm of what can happen, what we need to be prepared for.

We had a serious case of a terrorist attack or terrorist incursion into the territory of Kosovo in Serbia, and also a situation that happened last year, so in that sense, we certainly need to be cautious - states Efendić.

He also touched upon the visit of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to our country and our path towards the EU and the Growth Plan.

Without key agreements

- Nothing unexpected happened. We know that the Council of Ministers did not agree on a document that should have been approved by the EU. We know that, above all, Dodik did not agree with it, although there was an attempt to transfer it to four cantons in the FBiH. We said so then, but we remind you now that the Council of Ministers was not obliged to agree with the entities or the cantons - adds Efendić.

When asked if he considers Dodik the main culprit, Efendić said that, as far as he knows, the coalition at the state level, which includes Dodik, has not managed to reach key agreements.

- I think this government shows no ability to make serious progress towards the EU - assesses Efendić.

Speaking about the Local Elections behind us, Efendić stated that, as far as the Municipality of Novi Grad is concerned, where he renewed his mandate as mayor, it is a curiosity to gain trust and maintain it over a long period of time and actually have more trust at the end than at the beginning of that journey.

- I had more votes than all three mayors of other city municipalities in Sarajevo. And that is truly a valuable result for us. Also, the Party of BiH in Novi Grad has been the winner for the second time in a row.

What is also interesting is that we, as a party, received the most votes in four city municipalities of Sarajevo. So, somehow, to go from zero to first place in city municipalities, in the Canton we are in third place, and in the Federation, I think, the party is in fifth place.

Ahead of us are HDZ, SDA, SDP, and, I think, NiP. In my opinion, this is a serious result and, in a way, a comeback for the Party of BiH. A good platform for the Party of BiH to return to political life in BiH at full capacity in the coming period.

This was one of those steps, and I can say that in that sense, we certainly consider ourselves successful in our performance in these elections. Besides two mayors, we have 83 councilor mandates, and the Party of BiH is represented in 38 municipalities. This is an increase of almost 100% compared to 2020 for the Party of BiH - stated Efendić.

Asked who is the biggest loser of the elections, he points out that it is difficult to say, but that in Sarajevo he sees that Narod i Pravda has the biggest drop in the number of mandates or votes. That, adds Efendić, is more for their analysis, but it's simple things - if you say one thing and do another, citizens will see it quickly.

In Novi Grad Sarajevo, SBiH, SDA, and DF have the largest number of mandates. The show's host asked him if this would be a stable majority in the coming period?

- Well, that's 19 votes. I think Trojka has 11. I believe there should be a stable majority for work in the Municipal Council - emphasizes Efendić.

An interesting trio in Brčko

He also commented on the situation in Brčko District, where a new coalition has been formed - SBB, Naša stranka, and Stranka za BiH.

- An interesting trio has been formed there. Within a week after the elections, an agreement was signed between SDA, NIP, and SDP. This probably conditioned the fact that our colleagues in the Brčko District organization agreed to a joint appearance with these other parties that are outside of that.

I think SBB only has a representative in Brčko District. They only ran there in the elections. As for Naša stranka, as far as I know, a former member of both SBiH and NiP, and so on. Now he is a representative of Naša stranka. What the real scope and possibility of such an agreement will be, we will see. I am not entirely sure that it will ultimately mean anything, but I believe that there will be a change in the position of the mayor - points out Efendić.

One of the questions was also about his opinion on the fate of the BiH Presidency's Proposal on state property in the parliamentary procedure.

- As a party, we signed a declaration on state property some time ago, initiated by Presidency member Denis Bećirović. Following this declaration is the current draft law which stipulates that the state remains the titular owner of the property, but provides opportunities for lower levels of government to use state property in various ways and for various purposes.

This would resolve the stalemate regarding state property, where it is effectively outside legal possibilities of disposal, but also a target for the Republika Srpska entity. However, I am not sure about the fate of this law, but it is good that it is sent into procedure, so we cannot say that nothing is happening and not try anything - states Efendić.

He also answered the question about the policy of the USA and the European Union towards BiH.

- First, I will say something about the High Representative Christian Schmidt. Perhaps the public has forgotten, the Party of BiH was the first to sue him. We filed a lawsuit after his announcement that he would interfere in constitutional matters, which is not his authority.

We sent a lawsuit to the European Court of Justice. They replied that they were not competent for that case. And the legal basis for the lawsuit was the fact that the OHR in BiH is largely financed by the European Union itself.

Therefore, it is financed by the funds of the citizens of the European Union. The European Court of Justice, as a body of the European Union, was one address where we actually first raised the alarm about the behavior of the High Representative, whom we believe is influenced by lobbying from official Zagreb, so that his policy in BiH primarily benefits HDZ as a kind of branch of HDZ Croatia.

Remember, when he came to BiH, he did not come to Sarajevo, but first came to Mostar, and only then arrived in Sarajevo from Mostar. What he is doing does not justify what his role should be. He is someone who should protect the constitutional structure of this country. He interfered with it. He interfered in a way that allowed the formation of government in the Federation of BiH.

The latest thing he is doing regarding the Kovačević verdict is truly unheard of, unacceptable, and I don't know if it is his stance or if the EU or the US are behind it. I think it is more a direct influence of Croatia. What does the High Representative have to do with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the demands of the citizens of this country? It is not his job, nor his mandate - concluded Efendić.