RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA, WHICH REMAINS SRPSKA’S STRATEGIC PARTNER, STRENGTHENED

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 27 /SRNA/ – SNSD Leader Milorad Dodik says that Russia remains a strategic partner of Republika Srpska, with which it shares the same values.

Dodik says he also discussed the establishment of relations with the new U.S. administration with the top representatives of Russia. “They believe that the sanctions imposed on us were unjust, just as the sanctions against them are unjust. We did not establish our relations with the new U.S. administration and then introduce sanctions against the Russians,” Dodik told SRNA. He added that relations with Russia have been further strengthened and that Republika Srpska wants to see Russia’s victory. “We are convinced that Russia is right. Because Russia was intended for what Yugoslavia was – to be scattered and divided into several separate states that could be easily manipulated,” Dodik stressed. He said that the current situation in the Persian Gulf, which has caused global disruptions in the oil market, shows that Russia is the only stable continental oil producer for Europe and that part of the world. “Then those from Europe say they do not need it. Then let me buy it. I need 55,000 tons of oil and petroleum products per month. Republika Srpska needs that to maintain the mobility it has. We must procure it. I believe I could go to Russia now and within two days arrange a tanker that could be brought somewhere to the Adriatic, and that Srpska with just one tanker could cover three months. And I would get it at a very favourable price. But they do not allow it! That is the EU,” Dodik emphasized. Responding to a question about BiH’s path to the EU, Dodik says that BiH is economically and communicationally connected with the EU, but that the EU is not the only option. “Whenever something is disrupted in the EU, industrial production stops here as well, because we have been made dependent on them, whixh is not accidental,” Dodik said. He states there is a dramatic difference between what the EU was five years ago and what it is today. “The EU has no leaders, no raw materials, it is not competitive, there is no freedom of movement. What is left of the EU? Some money that some think they will receive through certain funds. That is an illusion, too - they do not have it, they have spent everything on Ukraine,” Dodik said. He added that the EU needs to respect Republika Srpska if it wants it to be part of that community. “Let the people decide whether we should be there. Let it go to a referendum or however it should be decided,” Dodik said.