Kukić: It is important to push the personification of evil off the political scene

Interviewer: Ernad Metaj 

Academician Slavo Kukić is known for his sharp analyses of the political situation in BiH. He is not afraid to express a clear stance and call things by their real name, no matter how much it bothers anyone's ears.   

Mr. Kukić, some parties from the Federation of BiH have decided to no longer negotiate on the Election Law until the institutional crisis is resolved. These are parties that call themselves pro-Bosnian. Is such a firm stance wise?

It is very difficult to say what is right and what is not, just as it is very difficult to assess what is pro-Bosnian and what is not. In this regard, only a personal opinion can be given, and I think that decision by some political parties should not be condemned. On the contrary, this decision was meant to signal that they do not want to be an appendage to ethnonationalists in shaping the future of BiH, which could be anything. If nothing else, it should be made clear to both domestic politicians and international officials that if they cannot influence solutions that would lead to a different, better BiH, then at least they do not want to participate in its destruction. To that extent, I personally would be ready to support such decisions.

How accurate and well-founded is the claim that a coup d'état is underway, especially after the recent decisions in the NSRS?

We are very close to that thesis, very close. As the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Željko Komšić, said these days, when the conclusions of the NSRS are published in the Official Gazette of the RS, at that moment elements of a coup d'état are present, because one part of BiH is being pulled out of the state as a whole.

There are many criticisms of international mediators, especially Matthew Palmer. How likely is it that he is deviating from the official policy of the USA?

I understand Palmer as an American envoy and accordingly I want to believe that he is implementing US policy. I do not have enough information to support that thesis, but if that is not the case, then the other thesis, which we have been persistently witnessing for the last 25 years, is confirmed. That thesis says that the actions of an envoy can be in conflict with the official policies of the country they come from. Not because they do not support that policy, but because through their own activities and solutions they want to show their superiors that they have succeeded in the task given to them. In doing so, they earn promotion to higher political positions, regardless of whether those solutions may be an additional burden on the state in question, in this case BiH. If that is Mr. Palmer's intention, then he is doing what Holbrooke did in 1995, and what many have done over the last 25 years.

The opposition has its own responsibility for BiH. We are interested in whether there is a mature policy in the Federation of BiH that will understand that BiH is not built in Sarajevo, but in Mostar, Banja Luka and other cities?

Lately, I increasingly see all those who represent the opposition in BiH, although there are ideological differences that under normal conditions would prevent them from functioning together. However, at the moment I think that is good. If nothing else, it creates the preconditions for those who have been the personification of evil over the last 25 years to be moved off the political scene. This opens up space for different conversations. In politics, there must be a willingness to compromise, so not everything can be as the political parties based in Sarajevo want. One must also consider other ideas, including those from Banja Luka and Mostar. But it is important to push the personifications of evil off the political scene. At this moment, those are the SNSD, HDZ and SDA.

Does Sarajevo, or the Bosniaks, have their own Vojin Mijatović, a man who is ready to call things by their real name?

I don't see such a brave guy in Sarajevo at the moment. Sometimes I admire him, and sometimes I fear for his life and the life of his family, because for that, not only political conviction is needed, but also human courage that Mijatović has like no one else.

The Mayor of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karić, has surprised the public with some of her actions and statements. Is this a matter of political immaturity, or rather an ideological orientation?

Ah, it's hard for me to talk about that. The Mayor of Sarajevo is a very young woman. First, it is highly questionable whether these are her decisions, or whether she is being exposed while others stand behind the decisions. Second, much of what she has done, I would have done differently; here I am thinking of Kazane, but also some other decisions.