Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:23Exactly at 4 p.m., we wish you a good day, or rather 5 p.m., good day and
00:00:27welcome to the N1 television live day, in a few hours... The 32nd Sarajevo
00:00:30Film Festival will be officially opened, which this time
00:00:34brings a series of world and regional premieres, and brings numerous names of the seventh
00:00:38art from different meridians to the main BiH
00:00:41city. However, in Sarajevo today, more than the
00:00:44beginning of the SFF, there was talk about yesterday's Prodigy concert,
00:00:48or rather about the fact that at the mentioned event,
00:00:51it was forbidden to serve alcohol at the mentioned event, at the
00:00:55request of the police. There is a debate about the real reasons for such a decision
00:00:59and how... what message it sends to both the citizens of Sarajevo and
00:01:02tourists. You can express your opinion on this topic in the poll on the
00:01:06N1info.Ba portal. Here's what we will be talking about for the next
00:01:0990 minutes in the live day.
00:01:14finally appointed an ambassador, that we are not at the Fires across Bosnia and Herzegovina have been engulfing
00:01:18forests, low vegetation, and natural resources in recent days. According to NASA data,
00:01:21more than 1,000 fires have been recorded in just 13 days, significantly
00:01:25more than in the same period last year. How much is the human
00:01:29factor responsible for this
00:01:31time be even less given situation? Have we learned the necessary lessons from previous seasons?
00:01:34In the live day, we are also checking the situation in the countries
00:01:37of the region.
00:01:40Today's first guest is Semir Efendić, president of the Party for Bosnia and
00:01:43Herzegovina, mayor of the Sarajevo municipality of Novi Grad. We are discussing the
00:01:47support he is receiving before the October elections, relations with political partners
00:01:51and opponents, and his vision of the state in complex political
00:01:54circumstances. We are also opening topics of Mostar, relations with HDZ and
00:01:58SNSD, we are talking about sports. infrastructure projects in
00:02:01Sarajevo, as well as the foreign policy positioning of Bosnia and
00:02:05Herzegovina.
00:02:08Tonight, the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival begins. We will discuss the program,
00:02:12guests, premieres, and the importance of the festival for the city and region
00:02:16with Andrijana Cop, spokeswoman for this event.
00:02:19What does this year's edition bring, how does SFF position itself on the
00:02:22international film map, and how much does it contribute to the development of the domestic
00:02:25film scene? From the red carpet to the big screens, we bring you a story
00:02:29about... the festival that puts Sarajevo in the focus of the world's
00:02:33cultural public these days.
00:02:48And in Sarajevo, a panel will be held tomorrow on the topic "Sounds of
00:02:51Belonging: Music, Diaspora, and the Second Generation," organized by the i-platform
00:02:55and the Embassy of Switzerland in BiH. The panel will feature
00:02:58discussions. Bosnian-Swiss musician Lejla
00:03:02Šurković, Nataša Mitrović, and Haris Abdagić. On that occasion, we will host
00:03:05Lejla, as well as Aldin Vrškić from the i-platform, an organization that has
00:03:09been building bridges between the diaspora and Bosnia and Herzegovina for years, and
00:03:13Jorget Broncez, a representative of the Swiss Embassy in Bosnia and
00:03:17Herzegovina.
00:03:21So, those are some of the topics and guests that await you live
00:03:24in the next hour and a
00:03:28except through sports federations at half.
00:03:33Before all that is announced, we will also browse the
00:03:36functioned. If there were problems at n1info.by portal and recommend that you look for the most important news of the day there. Here's what is currently highlighted on
00:03:40our portal. Elvedin
00:03:43Pezić released, returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United
00:03:47States of America insists that Netanyahu publicly condemn the siege
00:03:50of a Palestinian village by Jewish settlers. Mayors from the region and
00:03:54Europe have arrived in Sarajevo. Here's what this year's Sarajevo Declaration
00:03:58brings. Um. Croatia, a body found at the fire scene,
00:04:02terrible scenes are coming, so from Omiš and
00:04:04its surroundings, yards are being washed, pools are being filled, citizens did not take seriously
00:04:08the appeal from the Sarajevo waterworks. Rakovica, today without
00:04:12water, citizens of Goražde also again in front of the city administration due to
00:04:16water supply problems, terrifying scenes of fire near
00:04:19Omiš, in a dramatic night, one person
00:04:22died, many buildings and cars
00:04:25burned in the fire element, all about that extensively on our
00:04:30portal.
00:04:38In the current political moment, political allies, challenges in
00:04:42the functioning of the state, relations within the federation and the vision of Bosnia
00:04:45and Herzegovina, after the elections in October, we talk with the
00:04:48president of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, mayor of the Sarajevo
00:04:51municipality of Novi Grad, Semir Efendić. Good day and welcome. Good day
00:04:55to you and the viewers of N1 television. I announced quite a few topics,
00:04:59let's start. Let's start with these high, high politics, as some
00:05:02call it, and
00:05:05Union has its own rules on the upcoming October elections. You are definitely a candidate, therefore, for a member
00:05:08of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, although many thought you would give up in
00:05:11that photo finish. Uh, how do you view that
00:05:15election race that hasn't started yet, at least officially,
00:05:17and how do you assess your opponents'
00:05:21chances in this race? The Central Election Commission has verified
00:05:24the candidacies, so that matter is now official.
00:05:27The ballots are being prepared and will be printed for
00:05:31the October elections, so things are definitive
00:05:34regarding the candidacy. I have spoken several times before about
00:05:37the reasons for that candidacy. First
00:05:40and foremost, I would like the political will of the people in Bosnia and
00:05:43Herzegovina to be translated into our state system, for our system
00:05:47to work as citizens wish. I believed that
00:05:51the best way to do that was through
00:05:53a candidacy for a member of the presidency, given that
00:05:57I am also the president of a political party and our citizens
00:06:00have the greatest opportunity to show their political will precisely by voting for members of the presidency
00:06:04who have the largest electoral bases or units, in the case
00:06:08of the federation, so that is the entire federation where two members are elected
00:06:11and members of the presidency generally receive the highest number of votes, it
00:06:15exceeds 300 and sometimes has exceeded 400,000 votes and so
00:06:18on, by giving support to these politicians,
00:06:22candidates, citizens largely show
00:06:25their political will, however our system still does not
00:06:28function in accordance with our political will as citizens, because
00:06:32there is no such vertical from the presidency to other levels
00:06:35of government for the system to do its job. It is expected that
00:06:38our health system functions, that our security
00:06:42system functions, that our education system functions, communal and all others, that is
00:06:46certainly the political will of our people, but it is not happening due to
00:06:49the complexity of the system and the impossibility of integrating
00:06:52processes at all levels from the presidency to the cantonal level.
00:06:56Since you entered this race, do you think you can change something about it
00:07:00if you become part of that story, that is,
00:07:03if you are elected as a member of the presidency, how realistic is it
00:07:06to expect that one person in any position in this country
00:07:10today can change things given the... exactly the
00:07:14mentioned system that exists today in Bosnia and Herzegovina? Not only do I think so, I am completely
00:07:17convinced of it. I remind you, I am also a political scientist by profession, so that is my
00:07:21field of expertise, how a political system should function. And I have a master's
00:07:24degree. We have been observing the situation for 30 years. Many people have actually
00:07:27come with the idea of wanting to change things, and things
00:07:31remain as they are, often even worse. Often people, often people who take on
00:07:35that job don't even have a theoretical basis for how to establish a system, what are the foundations
00:07:38of its functioning. I say that I know it's possible because before
00:07:42that I said, from the role of the president of a party that also has candidates for
00:07:46all other levels, I am running for the most important position, but it is very important that it
00:07:50be a pyramid from top to bottom, so that support does not apply
00:07:54only to the candidate for a member of the presidency of the presidency, but that we have a certain
00:07:57political strength even within parliaments, which will
00:08:01consequently mean within the executive branch. When things
00:08:04are set up like that within the system, changes are certainly
00:08:07possible. And now we have an anomaly, for example, that a member of the presidency has no
00:08:10influence whatsoever on the current member of the presidency, absolutely no political
00:08:14influence in terms of a political party. Decisions on the most important processes in
00:08:18our country are made by citizens, made by some people who received almost
00:08:21no support in the elections, because that's how it is. You know, in other countries it is
00:08:25often the practice that the most responsible people, party presidents, fight for the most important
00:08:29functions. Then, when supporting them, citizens actually decide
00:08:32whom they want as a political party in some
00:08:36system. Then the system must function
00:08:39in all its segments. There must be a political
00:08:42will for that. Again, I say the people are the ones who give political will with their
00:08:46votes. Someone who has received it from the people must not shy away
00:08:49from that responsibility. They must take on that responsibility, then systematically
00:08:53first establish the system and manage it in accordance with the will of the people.
00:08:56I say again, it is our great desire that
00:09:00the judiciary functions, everyone surely wants that, that
00:09:03healthcare functions, neither one nor the other functions, nothing
00:09:07in the world will ever function on its own, without this political will that
00:09:11drives it from the top and... It can only be that way, yes, but we have that
00:09:14tripartite political system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, you commented on it now
00:09:18and you very often comment on
00:09:21uh and the views
00:09:24and messages from SNSD and HDZ. If these two
00:09:28parties again become an indispensable factor in forming the
00:09:31government after October, how do you think anything can
00:09:35change, no matter who is on this side, say
00:09:38from the Bosniak corpus, part of that government? I think
00:09:42they first and foremost need an adequate political counterbalance, someone
00:09:45they can't toy with as they please. I remind you,
00:09:48even in this mandate, it could have been without them, so there was
00:09:52a possibility, but everything has its terms. After the elections themselves,
00:09:55the government could have been formed without SNSD and without HDZ. This is something I
00:09:59warned all the presidents of the "troika" parties who entered that government about from the beginning.
00:10:03We have now lost four years. Believe me, I knew at that moment when this government was formed that it would be like this.
00:10:07So, assumptions do not have to exist for work to be done somewhere. There must be an agreement,
00:10:11and even if SNSD and HDZ enter the government, and if they cannot
00:10:15enter that government without a third party, let's say, without the Bosniak side,
00:10:18it must be
00:10:22sufficiently articulated that they cannot establish
00:10:25power without some basic agreements on what needs to be done in a
00:10:28mandate. That was not done at the beginning, the opportunity
00:10:32was not used, especially because
00:10:35there was an alternative. So, at a time when you have an alternative, the opposition
00:10:39from the RS entity, you choose SNSD, and you don't sign or
00:10:43agree on anything important with them, and you get what we got. I
00:10:46am convinced that if there were adequate political
00:10:49strength from the side that has the interest of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not
00:10:53these separatist
00:10:55intentions, then the government cannot be formed. But if that side gives in
00:10:59and enters into government formation with those who openly work on
00:11:03realizing their separatist goals, you get what you get. But
00:11:06it is definitive that the government cannot be formed. Neither SNSD nor
00:11:10HDZ can do it. After all, an absolute majority in
00:11:12the House of Representatives of the Parliament can be elected in cantons
00:11:16where neither HDZ nor SNSD have any influence. So 25 deputies can
00:11:20be elected. But where would that actually lead Bosnia and Herzegovina, considering the
00:11:24already present tensions and messages
00:11:27coming from uh, so
00:11:30the part where HDZ is in the majority, and from Republika Srpska.
00:11:33Would that actually further radicalize the political situation? One should not
00:11:37worry about that. It cannot radicalize. There must be a package of political
00:11:41agreements for what needs to be done. Both HDZ and SNSD are
00:11:45very interested in being part of the government. mm That is
00:11:48an opportunity when one can talk with them about how it will
00:11:51function, about mechanisms to ensure that it truly is.
00:11:55For example, when this current convocation of the Council
00:11:58of Ministers and this current coalition was formed, which
00:12:01doesn't even exist, that the first year it functioned somewhat, and then we had those
00:12:05breakthroughs on the European path, some kind of, let's say, good
00:12:09energy, then everything fell apart at one point. It functioned as long as
00:12:12the process of appointing directors, members,
00:12:15boards, supervisory boards, and so on lasted. Until then, they pretended that everything was functioning so that they wouldn't
00:12:19betray each other. Not a single director can be appointed unless everyone votes for him,
00:12:23both the "troika" and HDZ, and SNSD in this case.
00:12:25And while they delivered everything to each other that they needed, while Dodik got the director of the
00:12:29Indirect Taxation Authority, while he got the new Minister of
00:12:32Finance, until then it seemed that he was doing something. However, after that,
00:12:36everything was completely blocked. What about
00:12:39other levels? Who is preventing more efficient work in Sarajevo Canton? Who is preventing
00:12:42the Federation or ministries within the Federation from more efficiently doing their
00:12:46jobs? So it's not all so that it can't be done, that things are not set
00:12:49up in the right way. Here's maybe an opportunity to give just one
00:12:53example. Bosnia and Herzegovina has a law on sports, adopted I think
00:12:57in 2008, proposed by SNSD cadres,
00:13:00and today not a single sports federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has secured funds for its
00:13:04functioning. We do not have secured funds for
00:13:07national team appearances on the international stage. We cannot appear
00:13:11in any other way than as a national team. No athlete from Bosnia and Herzegovina, whether
00:13:15from Republika Srpska, or from West Mostar, or anywhere, he cannot
00:13:18appear or become relevant on the international stage in
00:13:22representative competitions, except through national teams of Bosnia
00:13:26and Herzegovina, which are formed through umbrella federations. These federations do not have
00:13:29a single mark for functioning, at the same time, in the Ministry
00:13:33of Civil Affairs there are funds for sports
00:13:35distributed through some public calls. I am convinced that it is possible that there
00:13:39must, that there must be will from all sides to secure funds
00:13:43for the functioning of umbrella sports federations in Bosnia and Herzegovina
00:13:46by this state, because no athlete
00:13:49from Bosnia and Herzegovina can appear anywhere
00:13:53the state level and... So, it's not a problem of lack of money, it exists in
00:13:57the Ministry of Civil Affairs, it's distributed to some clubs, very questionable
00:14:01for what projects, what reasons, at the same time national or state
00:14:05federations have no money for functioning. So SNSD was
00:14:08once a party that proposed the law on sports, and a strategy for the development of
00:14:12sports in Bosnia and Herzegovina was adopted sometime in 2010 or a year before or
00:14:15after, until today we have no agreement on
00:14:19financing these federations, they are in everyone's interest.
00:14:22So if you don't want to secure funds
00:14:26for the functioning of the state federation, no
00:14:29athlete or even appearances of our clubs in international competitions
00:14:32should be supported by the state. It is in the interest of Zrinjski
00:14:36and Borac and Sarajevo and Željezničar to be supported by the
00:14:39state. I have not seen anyone put these questions on the
00:14:43agenda in this way. So in numerous other areas, but it must be clearly
00:14:47prepared before entering and forming any
00:14:50government. If you are still in a position to choose a partner, as was
00:14:53the case now. And often it happens that way. If you are in a position
00:14:57to choose a political partner, then you are in a much better position than this. After
00:15:01all, since we're talking about choosing, you criticize the "troika," you criticize
00:15:04SNSD, you criticize HDZ, you criticized the
00:15:08previous one, so you didn't have too many words of praise for them.
00:15:11Who do you see as potential partners with whom you would
00:15:14build the Bosnia and Herzegovina you want?
00:15:18It is important that there are such parties, of course.
00:15:20It is important who manages the processes, who leads the processes, whether within
00:15:24that place where decisions are made, there is someone who knows what the
00:15:27goal is, not just to grab positions and that's it.
00:15:31We had such an opportunity, and we knew that things couldn't be run that way, but we
00:15:35remained an opportunity for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the president
00:15:38of the party, I am thinking and working on us as a party being
00:15:42a good enough alternative so that we don't have to think about
00:15:46who we will do better with. Of course, there are, last time we
00:15:49specifically proposed that the opposition from the RS entity be a partner, not
00:15:53SNSD as it is, or that we actually specifically demanded from
00:15:57SNSD the withdrawal of the law on state property, allowing
00:16:00the Bosnian language in schools in the entity. If they don't want any of that, there's no
00:16:04point in continuing those talks. I believe
00:16:07that... political strength is what gives you the opportunity to get
00:16:10what is needed, but it seems to me that you are somehow quite
00:16:14lonely, apart from this support and progress that you received as
00:16:17a candidate for a member of the presidency, there are no
00:16:20other parties with whom you share views, and in Republika
00:16:24Srpska you will go to the elections independently. Have you noticed
00:16:27that citizens are satisfied with what we have seen so far? We could only drown
00:16:31in this grayness, continue to waste our lives without any
00:16:35results.
00:16:37I told you, in the RS identity there are two political options, one is SNSD,
00:16:41the other are opposition parties. We are closer
00:16:45to what the rhetoric is and what the actions are of those who are not
00:16:48SNSD. As for the federation, there are many
00:16:50parties, uh, yes, but will that independent
00:16:54entry into the elections in Republika Srpska actually weaken the position
00:16:58of Bosniaks there, given that we know how few seats in
00:17:01Parliament have been won so far by uh,
00:17:04by parties uh with a Bosniak prefix, will that?
00:17:08the stratification. We were part of that majority last
00:17:12time, but because of those who led that joint
00:17:15project, it happened that it was completely ruined, so that
00:17:19the fact is that soldiers, a proud
00:17:22soldier of the Republika Srpska army, says that he is
00:17:25a representative, in fact today he is a representative of the Movement for the State from the last
00:17:28elections. We believe that this is trading with the votes of returnees. We are not
00:17:32ready to trade with the support we get there. Whatever support we get,
00:17:35we will manage it in such a way that we will truly represent those citizens in whose
00:17:39name we registered for the elections. And our only condition is that
00:17:43SDP participates in the RS entity, so SDP in the RS
00:17:46entity destroyed pro-Bosnian politics
00:17:49and led to such a low turnout of the diaspora to
00:17:53register for elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It helped
00:17:56SNSD at the beginning to get a fourth delegate, which it lost through the courts.
00:17:59From BH Telecom in Banja Luka, it made an employment bureau
00:18:03for SDP cadres from Banja Luka who are not returnees at all, especially not
00:18:06Bosniaks. So we don't trust them. Pro-Bosnian politics cannot be built with SDP
00:18:10in the RS entity. Why did SDA agree to that?
00:18:13We don't know, but we believed that citizens at least have the right to have
00:18:17an alternative, that this is not their only option, what they saw last
00:18:21time. Let's go from Banja Luka to Mostar, uh,
00:18:24you commented on the situation there as well. Mostar somehow, it seems to me, can't stop
00:18:28being a problem city, uh, do you think that the
00:18:31relations between Bosniaks and Croats, primarily in Mostar, are
00:18:35worse than ten years ago? That these national
00:18:38tensions are rising from year to year, even when those years are not
00:18:42election years. For a long time, Mostar has somehow been a problem city.
00:18:45Ten years ago, Mostar did not have a mayor, I think that period
00:18:49lasted 10 years, in Mostar there were no
00:18:51elections. It is simply visible that what is the statute of the city of
00:18:55Mostar proclaimed by the High Representative, in
00:18:59practice, in reality, does not function. And that is a big problem. This must be
00:19:02discussed at a serious political level, seeking some
00:19:05solutions. Mm, what is...
00:19:07It is a shame that local self-government was abolished, Mostar had municipalities like
00:19:11Sarajevo, so at least they
00:19:14the city level in the area of jurisdiction that the city implements, the
00:19:17municipalities could do their job. But what I see now, there are no municipalities,
00:19:21and the city administration does not function as it was
00:19:25envisioned by the statute of the city of Mostar imposed by the High
00:19:28Representative, but there were attempts, there were indications
00:19:32actually that a new statute would be adopted, obviously
00:19:35whoever is in that city
00:19:37government somehow, what you mentioned earlier, agrees on positions,
00:19:41but on other things it's difficult. Well, you see, through this case
00:19:44of the landfill, that a landfill that operates
00:19:48absolutely without any ecological
00:19:50parameters, without what should be there
00:19:53to even be able to dispose of waste, is above people's houses or
00:19:57next to the houses of a number of Mostar residents. They are protesting against it,
00:20:01and today the police are arresting them because they are trying to protect themselves from
00:20:04a landfill that has no
00:20:07standards in its functioning. Of course, on the other
00:20:10hand, the city which has to solve the problem with
00:20:14waste removal and has no solution in a quality way, neither in terms of location
00:20:17nor construction of a landfill that functions according to some
00:20:21minimal conditions that satisfy ecology. How with the landfill, you saw
00:20:25the situation with, that is, the public could see in the communal
00:20:29company itself and in numerous other areas, simply that city as it was
00:20:32conceived does not function, especially since the
00:20:35mayor began to establish a
00:20:38majority, a simple majority in which there are no Bosniak
00:20:42representatives at all. Then for those decisions that are made by a simple majority or what
00:20:46he does, he does it independently. So
00:20:48imagine a city where the city builds a Croatian theater, as if only Croats live in it,
00:20:52and these activities are supported by both HDZ
00:20:55and the city administration of Mostar. Is it a problem for Mostar
00:20:59to have a city theater?
00:21:02How can you in the very name of a theater
00:21:06determine who can go in it or whose theater it is? Is it
00:21:10not natural that a city that is multiethnic, which has
00:21:13besides Croats also Bosniaks and Serbs and numerous others, should
00:21:17have a city theater? No, it only has a Croatian one here. And how can such
00:21:20a policy, how can a city even function in which the one who
00:21:24is the mayor, who has the most authority, represents such
00:21:27a policy? It's not only tense on the political
00:21:30scene in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it seems to me also on the regional one. The recent visit
00:21:34of Aleksandar Vučić to Bugojno also provoked numerous reactions and what
00:21:38accompanied it, uh, do you see any
00:21:42possibility of actually warming relations
00:21:44between neighbors and surrounding countries when Bosnia and Herzegovina is
00:21:48concerned, given that the problem is not only on the Sarajevo-Belgrade axis,
00:21:52but very often also on the Sarajevo-
00:21:54Zagreb axis. In all likelihood, our neighbors have not
00:21:58abandoned the policies of the 90s which were primarily to the territorial
00:22:02teritorijalnu štetu Bosne i Hercegovine, pa je i
00:22:06njihova politika danas vrlo često usmerena na isto.
00:22:09This arrival of Vučić, I don't have concrete information, I am not
00:22:13naravno, niti u vanjskim poslovima, niti u diplomaciji, da li je on uopšte
00:22:16izrazio želju, a pretpostavljam da možda i nije, da dolazi u glavni grad da... "uđe u
00:22:20Sarajevo, ali svi oni koji na ovaj način misle graditi odnose sa
00:22:24they should not be
00:22:27to dozvoliti način da, ako ne uvažavaju glavni grad države, ako ne
00:22:30uvažavaju zvanične državne institucije i žele da sarađuju
00:22:34tako sa nekim nižim nivoima vlasti, onda ne mogu nastaviti saradnju sa državnim
00:22:37institucijama, ako to je njihov izbor, nek oni nastave sarađivati sa entitetom, ne mogu
00:22:41nastaviti saradnju sa državom kako su imali do sada, ali ne vidim
00:22:44da je ja nisam vidio da se naše predsedništvo uopće ozbiljno
00:22:47oglasilo toj Vučićevoj posjeti gdje on..." je nekoliko dana upućivao
00:22:51različite, različite ovaj
00:22:54I haven't seen any
00:22:57state-building, state reaction from the level of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for what he
00:23:01did in that week when he stayed for several days in the
00:23:05area of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then the police of the entity and RS invaded the
00:23:08territory of the Federation and all that which accompanied it, I think
00:23:11that it, and certainly it is in the best interest of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Croatia to cooperate
00:23:14in all areas in economy, in customs.
00:23:18security and everything else, when they will one day realize to start
00:23:22cooperating with state institutions, when they see that there is no other way, if they cooperate
00:23:25with the entity, that is a reduction of the possibility of Serbia cooperating with Bosnia
00:23:29and Herzegovina at all, but their choice, and geopolitical circumstances are
00:23:33rapidly changing, uh, somehow it seems that
00:23:36the view of the world actually becomes quite different
00:23:39than it was a year ago, two or three, uh, is Bosnia
00:23:43and Herzegovina still in the focus of the world public, has
00:23:47domestic diplomacy managed to draw attention to Bosnia and
00:23:51Herzegovina at least partly, as much as the footballers at the World
00:23:54Cup did, considering the great interest of tourists for Bosnia
00:23:58and Herzegovina after the World Cup, how much of that was followed by domestic
00:24:02diplomacy? I think that Bosnia and Herzegovina is certainly not in the focus of the world
00:24:05public. That is because of all the problems that exist today in the Middle
00:24:09East, Southeast Europe, Ukraine and so on. Bosnia and Herzegovina is not in
00:24:12that focus, but the memory, of course, first and foremost
00:24:16about Europe, remains. The fact that there was a big hotbed here in the 90s
00:24:19and a fear, a dose of fear
00:24:22that it could happen again, that's why Europe will never stop
00:24:26carefully following the events here, because it is their antechamber,
00:24:30no one wants a fire in their backyard, because if there is a fire in the backyard, it can
00:24:33reach the house, in that sense, there is a kind of interest
00:24:37for sure, now how much Europe is able to articulate,
00:24:40take some concrete steps, however, they are actively working to
00:24:44maintain some kind of stability, they are involved in...
00:24:48How much does America actually take over the primacy in political processes
00:24:51in Bosnia and Herzegovina compared to for a long time, America held that primacy, but
00:24:55in cooperation with the European Union. They were completely synchronized until the last
00:24:59resolution or resignation of the High Representative and the appointment
00:25:02of a new one, we have for the first time different attitudes, so it is about
00:25:06a new American administration and the European Union. All previous, all
00:25:10previous American administrations had
00:25:13a completely equal approach in which sometimes Europeans for practical reasons
00:25:17ceded that leadership role to America
00:25:20to exert pressure on our
00:25:23representatives in various processes that were happening here, how long it will last, I don't
00:25:27know, I know that it is related to the new Trump administration in
00:25:30America, that it is related to the South Interconnection project where they are trying to
00:25:33enter the European energy market through Bosnia and Herzegovina and
00:25:37Europe, uh, it seems to me that by stopping the election of the High
00:25:41Representative in its
00:25:44endeavor to prevent a type, they consider it
00:25:48unfair competition in the market of energy sources in the European Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not yet
00:25:51a member of the European Union and the European
00:25:55how to trade energy sources and how to enter the European
00:25:59Union market. Here it would be difficult to resist them because through Bosnia and Herzegovina. you don't enter
00:26:03with a gas pipeline that brings American gas, then probably
00:26:06thermal power plants would be built that would supply electricity
00:26:09to the market of the European Union and
00:26:13everything that was done with the southern interconnection is contrary
00:26:16to the norms of the European Union, for that reason I am
00:26:19convinced that the European Union this time has
00:26:22a different stance compared to the United States of America where they are trying to
00:26:26protect European norms, can that cause problems for Bosnia and Herzegovina
00:26:29given that we are currently without a High Representative with an
00:26:33OHR deputy who has, we can freely say, somewhere
00:26:37pulled the handbrake with very little influence on
00:26:40political circumstances. My opinion is that the European Union is trying to buy
00:26:44time so that the influence of this administration would be reduced after
00:26:47these elections which are soon expected in America for their legislative
00:26:51bodies, that the interest in such projects will decrease
00:26:54if that kind of pressure continues, I believe
00:26:58at some point the project will still be realized, that Europe will accept it, but
00:27:01time-buying attempt to
00:27:05get something out of it in accordance with European norms, in the end I
00:27:08believe it will not affect
00:27:11any major disruption, what I must mention here, it is good that the United States of America
00:27:17level of a chargé d'affaires, it still shows that we as
00:27:20a country deserve attention, at least in that an ambassador has been appointed, because it can
00:27:24happen that it lasts for years, this time the ambassador
00:27:27has finally been appointed, so that will mean a different
00:27:31presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And in my opinion, it is not even bad that the European Union in
00:27:35this way, mm, has shown that it still
00:27:39cares about some things, that it does not fully give in, well, our
00:27:42parties have all accepted and all voted, with the exception of the party for Bosnia
00:27:46and Herzegovina, for the law of the southern internal connection, and then they
00:27:49regretted it a little, where a private company completely outside all European
00:27:53norms is awarded a public service, to run a public
00:27:56service, yes, our party sprinkled some ashes on its head after that,
00:27:59when after they saw the views of the European Union, they were a bit too hasty because they
00:28:03expected that everything the United States does is supported by the European Union as
00:28:07before, they didn't read what it was about. Europe, however, showed
00:28:10more seriousness. We, as a party, were the only ones in parliament against it,
00:28:14after that, our party said how it would try to stop it, because it is no longer
00:28:17sure whether it is an American company at all and so on.
00:28:21They remembered late, they should have reacted in time, but well, the European Union will
00:28:25strive, this is energy, it is an important issue, all
00:28:28political processes in the world, especially wars, are mostly
00:28:32fought for energy sources, resources, economy,
00:28:35this is not that kind of war, but certainly some overlapping interests and struggle
00:28:39for one's own interests from all sides continues, I only ask
00:28:43what is in our interest, who cares about the interests of our people, our
00:28:46state, our resources, we must
00:28:49take care of that, others certainly won't, they will look for how to best,
00:28:53most efficiently and as soon as possible use them for themselves, especially
00:28:56if we talk about city topics, considering that time is running out, uh, although they
00:28:59are not free of political influences. The slow pace of the
00:29:03expressway in Sarajevo, uh, you
00:29:05somehow opposed your opinion to the cantonal
00:29:08authorities, uh, from there the message actually is that what
00:29:12you are currently advocating is due to political views, i.e., due to
00:29:15upcoming elections, not a real opinion, let's
00:29:19somewhere clarify your position on
00:29:22the issue, I will just briefly return to what we talked about at the beginning on this issue, I have been the mayor of the municipality in Novi
00:29:26Grad for a long time, we had very different compositions of municipal councils during that period,
00:29:29politically from complete opposition to
00:29:33various coalitions, but work never stopped, because
00:29:36for for for work, knowledge is needed and when you have knowledge of how to go through
00:29:40some processes, then it is easier to explain it to all political actors and of course you need to
00:29:44have a backbone to say no when it is necessary to some things and
00:29:47there things are set up and resolved differently, here when it comes
00:29:51to a specific project in Sarajevo, I said somewhere in the first reaction that it
00:29:55could have been built as it was conceived, since they said it was
00:29:58about realizing a project 50 years old, maybe it wouldn't have waited for me.
00:30:02"Maybe someone would have finished it before us, and it's a simple
00:30:05thing, you you've heard of something called bypasses, i.e. expressways that
00:30:09bypass cities, the very word bypass
00:30:12means it bypasses, it doesn't go through the middle of the city, the idea and concept of a city
00:30:16highway in Sarajevo was actually at that time a bypass in the 60s,
00:30:20when there were no settlements on the other side and you, of course,
00:30:24bypassed the city and continued transit towards Pale, now after all that has been
00:30:27built, to incorporate a bypass, a category of road
00:30:31such as a bypass through the middle of the city, that is completely
00:30:33senseless, we, of course, as
00:30:35a municipality,
00:30:37that problem, you always talk about it very simply, well, we
00:30:41did that, we are doing it, we built Džemala Bedića Street, we gave a solution for
00:30:45it to be a road with four lanes with access from all sides and that is not
00:30:49a problem at all, it even completely revitalizes the area, but
00:30:53these expressways and highways they somehow create a barrier
00:30:56due to the calculated speed of driving, when you drive 80'.