STANDING AGAINST THE GLOBAL ELITE with Trump Ally President Milorad Dodik of Republika Srpska | Ep34

Welcome to this week's edition of Going Rogue with Lara Logan. A lot of you out there, um, may be looking to Europe at this moment and wondering what on earth is going on. There is, uh, what appears to be an invasion, um, by Muslim people, in a sense, not the ordinary, decent, you know, people that are out there, but more of a political invasion. And this is causing concern all the way from Europe to Dearborn, Michigan in the United States, where this is a big issue.

And so when you look at Europe, what's, uh, what's really interesting is that there is a, a, a small country called, uh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which some of you may remember from the Bosnian War in the 1990s. And this particular nation was formed under the Dayton Peace Accords. The US was very instrumental in the war and in bringing about peace.

But what has happened now, this is, um, some three decades later, 30 years later, and, uh, a new reality has emerged where Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided up between the Serbs, who got half of the country, Republic of Srpska, as it's called, and the other half, which is known as the Federation, which is broken, which is a mixture of Bosnian Muslims, known as Bosniaks, and Croatians. The Croatians are outnumbered by Bosnian Muslims, and the Serbs form roughly a third of the overall, uh, population of the whole country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

So what makes this country particularly interesting right now and relevant to the United States of America? Well, my guest, uh, today is the current president of the Republic of Srpska, because each of these autonomous regions has their own representation in, uh, the country as a whole. And, um, and our guest, uh, Milorad Dodik, who is the president, is a great friend of the United States.

Now, which United States, you might ask yourself, and what do I mean by that? Well, the president has long been a supporter of President Donald Trump, both in 2016 and in 20, uh, 24, 25. And for this, he has paid a heavy price. So, as the president of this tiny little half of this small country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, President Dodik has come to experience a number of things that are very relevant to what Americans are facing today.

Number one, uh, the hatred towards President Donald Trump has been directed towards him. Of course, there will be many people in the United States who understand and identify with that, because they've gone through the same thing.

The second thing that he's facing is, um, the presence of Islamic civilization and, um, Islamic trained militants who are there to install, um, an Islamic civilization, uh, thereby obliterating all other civilizations around them, including, for example, uh, Serbia, which has its own, which is, uh, Christian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, and, um, has its own tradition, culture, and history, history, and a strong sense of national identity that is not shared by their Muslim neighbors. Um, so that is something which resonates not just across Europe, but also in the United States itself.

Um, and then, uh, the third thing is really this Islamic leftist alliance and the globalists, and how the international order, um, holds a lot of power, in fact, an astonishing amount of power and influence in, uh, Bosnia and Herzegovina today, and how that is reflected both in Europe and in the United States.

So these are, uh, three somewhat urgent topics, because the president himself is facing, uh, legal actions, his own version of lawfare in this country, very similar to what President Donald Trump is experiencing in the United States. And, um, we don't often hear, uh, from him. So we wanted to get his side of the story, so to speak, the way the Serbian people, uh, see the current situation.

And, um, and one of the reasons for this is that there is some serious concern in the US amongst political and intelligence circles that the conflict here in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in with the Republic of Srpska, the conflict that is playing out in a way between Christians and Muslims, can once again serve as a spark for a broader conflict in the world, as it did in World War I.

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So, as a matter of some urgency, since, um, the president has been removed from office by some of the international, um, institutions that, uh, have power and influence here under the Dayton Peace Accords, more so under the Bonn Agreement, which came some years later. So we wanted to, uh, talk to the president and find out. There has been concern expressed by a number of high-profile, uh, Serbs in the world. One of your famous tennis players, uh, just said recently that his country is on the verge of civil war. And, um, war is never an option that the people choose. Too much pain and suffering, you know very well, as Serbs. So we wanted to find out. We came here to be on the ground to learn, um, and to hear, uh, from you, Mr. President. So thank you for being so generous with your time.

Um, can you explain, uh, to an American audience how you end up being the president of the Republic of Srpska, but not the president, because you have now been removed, uh, from office?

>> Laura, welcome to Republika. I am pleased personally, as well, that we have finally had the opportunity to meet in this way, and I wish to thank you for showing interest in the situation here. It is indeed extremely difficult to serve as president of a republic whose very existence has been challenged from the outset. Since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, a series of political maneuvers and speculations have cast a negative light on the Serbs, and we have been grappling for nearly 30 years with what can rightly be described as a hybrid war against us. Hardly a day, month, or year goes by without pressure being exerted on us by certain Western countries and previous US administrations, all with the aim of assisting the Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina in creating a predominantly Muslim state to the detriment of us Christians. Until about 20 years ago, Bosnia and Herzegovina was a majority Christian country and remains so today. However, there is speculation in various reports suggesting that the Muslim population is growing significantly, not only due to natural increase but also as a result of permitted migration, that is, the influx of immigrants into the country. Muslims in Bosnia wish to see their co-religionists from other countries settle here, many of whom are currently transiting through on their way to Europe. However, Europe now seeks through various programs to return them to us, as they have exhibited delinquent behavior abroad and failed to demonstrate any willingness or capacity for assimilation. As a result, they are being sent back to Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are over 1,800 mosques that have been built, at least half of which were constructed in the past 10 to 15 years, an indication that Bosnia and Herzegovina is undergoing a process of full Islamization. The struggle we Christians face to preserve our position is genuinely complex and difficult. It seems to me that we are now in the same situation as Christians once were in the Middle East, in Syria, in certain other countries, in Egypt, where today they have all but disappeared. Only 50 years ago, they were vibrant Christian communities. Today, they are gone because they could not withstand what we refer to as politically radical Islam. According to official data, during the existence of the so-called Islamic State, 580 fighters from Bosnia and Herzegovina joined its ranks on foreign battlefields. Over 100 have returned. Some were killed, others are missing or remain in various camps elsewhere. This clearly illustrates the ongoing threat we face from Muslim radicalism. Bosniak Muslims were the ones who organized the Bogaljica camp, where individuals who later carried out the 9/11 attacks in the United States received training. There were individuals there who had trained alongside Iranian intelligence officers who established the camp. US intelligence services ultimately uncovered the operation, and the camp was shut down, but it was already too late. The attacks on the United States have been carried out, and nearly every terrorist attack in Europe has been linked to Muslim perpetrators. I'm not suggesting that all Muslims are terrorists, but at present and in recent history, all terrorist attacks have been carried out by Muslims from this region. You will not find a single Serb who participated in the Islamic State, nor in the attacks on the United States, Madrid, London, Paris, or anywhere else where such incidents have occurred. These acts were perpetrated by Muslims.

>> So, just to be clear, you're saying that, um, several of the 9/11 hijackers, uh, were trained in a camp in Bosnia?

>> Where exactly is that camp that you named? How far from here?

>> That camp is located in the immediate vicinity of Sarajevo, which today is a predominantly Muslim city with 96% of its population being Muslim, and which certain liberal experimentalists from the West are trying to impose on us Christians as the capital. Naturally, we reject that. The camp is situated approximately 30 km from Sarajevo, hidden in the hills, and roughly 250 km from here. And this camp was run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC.

>> The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at that time operating through the Iranian embassy. And that was before 9/11?

>> Yes, precisely. The Iranian Embassy had 480 staff members, the largest diplomatic mission ever in Bosnia. All of them were members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who, through humanitarian organizations, operated covertly to radicalize the local Muslim population. During the war, according to well-documented sources, some 4,500 so-called holy warriors of Islam arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina and fought on the side of the Muslims against us Serbs, the Christians. They committed serious crimes and spread fear and terror. The sheer monstrosity of those crimes was beyond comprehension. It was the first time such brutality had emerged in the world in that form. What are we now witnessing? And what have we seen in the so-called Islamic State? The atrocities they committed, we have already seen here in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I will show you a photograph of a Mujahideen holding the severed head of a Serbian soldier named Bogoljub Popović, who had been taken captive and held in detention for several weeks. After that, the Mujahideen took over the camp, and this is the severed head. Some Western media outlets reported that the body belonged to a Serbian soldier and the severed head to a Muslim, which was of course entirely false. Nevertheless, the propaganda at that time succeeded. What we later saw in the so-called Islamic State, these same types of atrocities had already been carried out here in much the same way as they sought through such crimes.

>> This was happening years before 9/11. This was in the early 1990s.

>> Yes. Yes. That was in 1992, during the Bosnian War. Of course, you know, the Serbs are also accused of committing atrocities during the war. You don't, do you acknowledge that?

>> Yes. There have also been thugs and criminals among the Serbs, but all of them have been prosecuted either before international courts or by domestic judiciaries. There is no one on our side who is still being sought. Yet for that particular crime, as for many others committed against Serbs, no one has ever been held accountable. There is a complete distortion, most strikingly in the case of Srebrenica, which has been internationalized. Over the course of three years, 3,472 Serbian civilians were killed in the Srebrenica area by Muslim units under the command of Naser Orić. Later, at the end of the war, a crime was indeed committed by Serbs in Srebrenica. It was used to advance claims of genocide without any mention of the earlier Serbian victims. Meanwhile, Naser Orić, the commander of the Muslim forces operating out of the UN-protected enclave, was never held accountable. They committed crimes against our population, and that ultimately led to the Army of Republika Srpska entering Srebrenica. All women and children were evacuated and transported to a safe zone under the control of the Muslim side, while the remaining forces consisted of units of the Muslim army engaged in combat. They were all portrayed as victims of genocide, even though they were soldiers and thus legitimate military targets in the context of armed conflict. Naturally, there were also civilian casualties. I grieve just as deeply for the suffering of every Muslim child as I do for every Serb child. But what pains me is the injustice that someone like Naser Orić, who was a commander at the time, walks freely through Sarajevo, engaged in business, hailed as a hero by the people there, while Serbs, rightly, when they have committed crimes, are held accountable and should be imprisoned. That is the injustice that wounds us here. And we believe it is not a foundation on which we can build a shared life with Muslims in this country.

>> I understand. But Srebrenica was a, a pretty horrific example because you had some 5,000, uh, Muslims, even if they were soldiers that were under the control of the UN that were handed over to the Serbs that were supposed to be safe. I think that was the agreement. And then the Serbs went back on the agreement and, uh, and those people were killed. And that was some 8,000 dead. So when I mean, anytime you have 8,000 dead people in one incident, it's going to be, uh, it's going to be hard to argue that that was legitimate.

>> Of course, no killing is ever legitimate. I condemn such acts, and I'm not someone who ever took part in them. But the fact remains that the Hague Tribunal established the number of Muslim victims as 4,200, not 8,000. The figure of 8,000 has become a stereotype that no one has substantiated, and to this day, there is no proof to support it. The fact is that there are living individuals who were listed as buried there. One well-known case, for example, involves a local government employee who served as a driver to the Muslim mayor. He himself was also a Muslim. He is still alive today, yet his name is engraved among the dead. More than 400 individuals listed as casualties there were confirmed to be alive as recently as five or six years ago, when we conducted surveys. Moreover, many of those buried at the site had been brought in from various parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And simply stating the facts, a crime did occur. We, the Serbs, do not deny that. However, we cannot accept the narrative being imposed by Germany, which appears aimed at deflecting from its own historical narrative of genocide and the Holocaust. They wanted another people to be spoken of as genocidal. Yet, in many places during the Second World War, just 30 or 40 years earlier, there were mass killings of Serbs: 14,000 to 15,000 in one place, 8,000 in another, 500,000 elsewhere, 6,000 more, and many other such cases. But none of that was ever declared a genocide, and that is an injustice. In any case, I believe that the politicization of war crimes is the worst possible approach. I firmly support the principle that courts should establish responsibility for every crime committed and that no one who has committed such acts should walk free. But that is not what we are seeing. What is happening instead is that only Serbs are being prosecuted and imprisoned, while others remain at liberty, and they continue to exalt in that belief, widely promoted to their public, that they were in the right, insisting they were merely acting in self-defense. How can it be claimed that Naser Orić was acting in self-defense when on Christmas Eve, according to the Orthodox calendar, that is, on the evening of January the 6th, when Serbs traditionally gather with their families to celebrate, he led an incursion into the village of Kravica and, fully aware that civilians were at home, killed 72 Serbian civilians, both men and women? That took place a year before the events in Srebrenica. An unjust crime cannot be justified by another crime. But what I'm speaking about here is injustice and nothing more.

>> Yes, to some degree, it happens on both sides. So I really want to talk a little bit more about that history. But before we get into that, can you, uh, tell us what is your position, uh, regarding the Trump administration and President Trump himself?

>> I admit I greeted his first victory with enthusiasm. At the time, I was a Serb who had the opportunity to be in Illinois, in Chicago, Milwaukee. There is a significant Serbian community there, and I urged them to vote for Trump at the time, and they did. Our statistics indicate that at the time, 92 to 93% of Serbs eligible to vote cast their ballots for Trump. It is estimated that there are around 300,000 Serbs in Chicago, making it the second largest Serbian city after Belgrade. So, yes, there is a significant community there. Thanks to my well-known support to President Trump's campaign, I was invited for the first time to attend his inauguration during his first term. When I applied for a visa to attend the inauguration, my wife and Mrs. Željka Cvijanović were granted visas, while my own application was placed on hold by the then US administration. As a result, they attended the inauguration, and we have photographs documenting their presence. As for me, just two days before the inauguration, the Obama administration imposed sanctions on me, unable to accept that I had openly supported Donald Trump. Regrettably, I was unable to meet with the president due to the pandemic and various other circumstances, but I have never ceased to hope for his return. What he has endured in the meantime through judicial persecution is, to me, deeply impressive. The kind of fight he has shown, the visible enthusiasm and the resolve to bring about change, are a source of inspiration for me. In many ways, we have responded in a similar spirit this time as well. Prior to the most recent elections, I publicly voiced my support. Since I was unable to travel to the United States due to sanctions imposed on me, instead, I conveyed my views through media and other channels. I made it clear that I supported President Trump's efforts because I believed he was a leader capable of bringing stability and peace to the world, of restoring global order to its original settings, so to speak, and of reaffirming the values that human civilization has achieved, rather than surrendering to liberal and other ideological currents that erode the essence of the human being, undermining the family, identity, personal conviction, and even the individual's capacity to define themselves as such. In that, I saw President Trump as a man of family values, someone committed to preserving tradition and restoring traditional principles. He understood that immigration and mass migration are eroding traditional societies, which is why he took a firm stand against uncontrolled migration. I witness the consequences of that every day here, as we do across Europe. Europe, which refused or still refuses to follow President Trump's approach, has allowed itself to be systematically dismantled. Societies there are no longer stable. A significant Islamist presence has taken root. As you rightly pointed out, these may well be good people individually, but what we are witnessing is the arrival of a new culture in Western Europe, one that does not assimilate, but instead remains autonomous and increasingly confronts local cultures with its own form of homogeneity. You are far more likely to find political divisions among Catholics or Orthodox Christians than among Islamists, especially when they seek to consolidate or expand their influence. I saw all of this in Trump, a man willing to sit down with Putin and engage in dialogue, someone capable of bringing matters back on the right track. I was genuinely pleased by his victory. Here in Banja Luka, on the day of his victory, we illuminated the facade of the palace building where my office is located with an image of the American flag and President Trump's likeness. I was heavily criticized at the time by certain liberal circles, but we have remained steadfast in our support. Almost spontaneously, that very morning when we learned of his victory, this was the way I expressed my message of support for President Trump.

>> Where did you get the hat?

>> Well, I had obtained it as I respected and supported that movement. A significant number of my supporters gathered to celebrate the victory, and the event was covered by media outlets across Europe and, I would say, even in the United States. In other words, we did not hesitate. I believe that Trump represents humanity's last hope, and that if he does not succeed, though I firmly believe he will, the world and America may lose the version of America that people admire and hold dear. Serbs have traditionally held great affection for America. However, Democrats, and I always struggle to say Democrats because I believe they have done us harm and have unjustly appropriated the label of democracy, have caused significant problems for us Serbs. Back then, I believe it was President Truman who, recognizing that the Serbs had lost 36% of their population in the First World War, raised the Serbian flag over the White House as a gesture of support for our people who had suffered tremendously at the time. This speaks to the fact that in both World Wars, we were on the side of the Allies. We were completely taken aback by the shift, though not by America as a whole, but rather by its Democratic administrations: Clinton, Obama, and now Biden. Biden, even during Clinton's presidency, was one of the leading hawks against the Serbs. He was a hawk, chairing the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee, and he never missed an opportunity to demonize us. They lied. He lied as well when he claimed that Serbs had killed 300,000 Muslims and raped 60,000 Muslim women. In that climate of falsehoods, amplified by Amanpour and CNN, an atmosphere of punishment for the Serbs was created. It was in that environment that we went to the peace conference, and unsurprisingly, fared very poorly given the circumstances. And we still believe that America can help us. Not in the sense that President Trump or his team should return political support to me personally. That is not what I seek. What I want is for the injustice to be corrected. An injustice that has been continuously perpetrated by the administrations of Obama, Biden, and Clinton. What they conducted here was an experiment. There was absolutely no reason for Bosnia to be unified after the civil war. Yugoslavia, composed of three constituent peoples: Serbs, Muslims, and Croats, had failed. Yet they sought to make Bosnia, composed of the same three peoples, a successful project. It was a distorted experiment engineered by Madeleine Albright and her associates, many of whom later resurfaced in the Obama and Biden administrations, where her former aides became influential figures. People like O'Brien and others continued the pattern of marginalizing the Serbs. Whenever we hear that Democrats are coming to power, a sense of collective panic and paranoia grips us. That is why Trump represented something that, if there is indeed such a thing as justice, we welcomed in precisely that spirit.

>> So really, what you're talking about is in the Second World War, Serbs were allies of the US. They fought on the same side as the US. And of course, you know, here in Serbia, um, you were, you have been a Serbian Orthodox Christian country for many centuries. Um, then the Ottomans came, you were under Ottoman rule for 500 years. Uh, then under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Serbia was part of Yugoslavia under Tito. You had the breakup of former Yugoslavia led to the Bosnian War, and the US came down pretty heavily on the side of, uh, the Muslims in that conflict. That must have been something of a shock that was under the Clinton years.

>> Um, and also the US bombed the hell out of Serbia and really altered that war. Um, I mean, you could fight the Muslims, but you couldn't fight the Muslims with America on its side. So, is there a lot of anger and resentment towards the US in Serbia because of that? Is it regarded as a betrayal?

>> It was more a sense of disbelief that such a thing could happen. We always held out some hope that America would come to understand the reality on the ground, but we were mistaken. The Democrats have understood nothing. They simply press on with their agenda undeterred. During the Second World War, the Serbs had two anti-fascist movements: the Chetnik movement led by Draža Mihailović and the Partisans. In areas where the Chetniks were dominant, and in part also where the Partisans operated, they provided assistance to the American pilots who had gone down. At the time, the logistical base of Hitler's war machinery was located in Romania, where the oil refineries were concentrated, and the Allies were bombing those refineries. On their return flights over former Yugoslavia, some Allied aircraft were shot down, and the pilots parachuted to the ground. The Serbs at that time assisted American pilots despite the considerable risks involved, including German offenses. They provided aid and constructed improvised airstrips both in Serbia and here in Republika Srpska. One such airstrip was located approximately 70 kilometers from here. Allied aircraft used it to evacuate pilots. Over 150 American pilots were rescued in Republika Srpska alone. Their descendants have since established the Halyard Association, and we are now in the process of creating a permanent memorial to commemorate these events. It is worth noting that when we began efforts to mark this chapter of history, Democratic administrators did not consider it a priority to attend the commemorative ceremonies. Not once has a representative from the US Embassy in Sarajevo attended our commemorative events. However, representatives of the Halyard Association did take part and can attest to these facts. When American pilots went down in areas populated by Croats or Muslims, they were immediately handed over to the Germans and executed. These are historical facts. I'm not fabricating anything. Unfortunately, many have prevented these historical facts from being publicly acknowledged. As part of Yugoslavia, Serbs believed in the narrative of unity among nations. But that proved to be an illusion, one that ultimately worked to our detriment. Regrettably, the Serbian leader Milošević remained too long aligned with the structures of the communist system. Perhaps only a year too long, but it was enough for him to be branded a successor to communism, which was used to place us on the wrong side of international judgment. The Serbs themselves never supported that path. The Serbian people are a democratic nation and have only suffered under communist ideas. Yugoslavia played a decisive role in defeating Germany. Just as Germany attacked us in 1914 when we lost 35% of our population, we lost an additional 12% in World War II. Nearly half of the Serbian population perished in the First and Second World Wars. And on both occasions, Germany stood on the side of those responsible for those atrocities.

>> And there was a concentration camp not far from here. Correct? Yes, there was the Jasenovac concentration camp operated by local Croats who had established the Independent State of Croatia and regime under German patronage. They gathered and imprisoned Serbs, some 500,000, alongside 35,000 Jews, approximately 70,000 to 80,000 Roma, and perhaps around 100,000 anti-fascists, all of whom were killed in Jasenovac. However, the communists later razed the site, and there were no memorials or markers of the atrocities. It was only after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia that we began commemorating these places of suffering. In that breakup, Germany played a decisive role. Germany made early recognition of Slovenia and Croatia a condition of the master treaty and the formation of the European Union. That recognition effectively tore Yugoslavia apart and signaled the beginning of a civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country with an ethnically mixed population. And they immediately blamed us, the Serbs, for everything. Of course, our leadership at the time lacked the capacity to deal with media manipulation. The most influential manipulator was CNN and its journalist, Christiane Amanpour, who persistently spread falsehoods. Today, we know that she is of Iranian ethnic origin and may have presented herself in the West as a neutral figure, but here she acted in alignment with her Muslim background. That is how we were treated. On the basis of such reports, we paid a very high price. Now, let me be clear. I do not deny that crimes were committed by Serbs. Nor do I defend those crimes. I firmly believe that all perpetrators must be held accountable, and that it is a failure of civilization if any war criminal walks free. All must be brought to justice. Before the war, I completed my studies in political science with distinction and was subsequently sent, being considered a promising young man, to complete officer reserve training. By the time the war broke out, I held the rank of lieutenant. And by the end of the war, I still held the same rank. That would have been the perfect opportunity for me, a man in his 30s at the time, to become a general. But I didn't. During the war, I helped evacuate Muslim civilians. I believed that no one should suffer and that peace would eventually come. I must admit, however, that I was wrong to think any sort of mutual understanding could be achieved. Muslims want this land for themselves. They want to drive us out, just as Christians were driven out of Syria and Egypt. They are bound by the universal Islamic ideology. Today, they serve as a gathering point for the most radical elements who continue their journey to Europe and the United States, a trend clearly reflected in past events. Of course, there are good Muslims. There are those with whom I maintain personal relations. And there are others who do not dare associate with me, not because of who I am personally, but because I am a Serb, an Orthodox Christian, and they cannot justify such relations within their own communities.

>> Of course, the, just to be clear, the criticism against the Serbs is that you want the territory. You say they want the territory to be all Muslim, and your critics say that you want the territory to be all Serbian.

>> I do not want for us to live together with Muslims. What we seek is a clear territorial separation. Because over the past 30 years, as President Trump aptly put it, it is time to abandon the building of impossible states. Fukuyama wrote a book on state building that was enthusiastically embraced by Democratic administrations. And much of our suffering stems not only from those administrations but also from Fukuyama himself, who, though still alive today, was profoundly mistaken in those years. The only one who was right was Huntington, whose clash of civilizations offered a realistic framework for understanding these dynamics. Of course, operational politics is a separate matter altogether. What has become evident is that Republika Srpska was established prior to the outbreak of conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I was present in the parliament when Republika Srpska was founded. We did not live in peace for long, perhaps three or four months, before war broke out. Before the war, we had our own territory, our own government, our army, our economic life, our cultural and religious life. Everything was functioning in an organized way. We had occasional clashes with the Muslims, but our structures were in place. Then, five years later, an initiative came from the United States to establish a peace agreement and end the war. The so-called Dayton agreement was reached in Dayton and signed in Paris. To this day, we mark the conclusion of that agreement, November 21st, as a public holiday. For us Serbs, it is celebrated as a national day. The Muslims, on the other hand, refer to the Dayton agreement as a straitjacket. From the very beginning, they showed no willingness to implement the agreement. We are one of the signatory parties to that agreement. The Muslims and Croats are the others. They declared it a straitjacket, and yet we, the Serbs, are the ones accused of undermining the Dayton agreement. But we celebrate the day of its signing, while they do not. That is when the split truly began. Then came various experiments and experimenters from Democratic administrations inventing concepts and manufacturing a so-called EU path for Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to that path, we are expected to renounce everything. They have stripped us of 86 competencies that, under the Dayton agreement, rightfully belong to us. And as of today, as I speak to you, we are no longer treated as a constituent party within Bosnia. Rather, Republika Srpska has become a target for collective punishment enforced by Muslim-led courts in Sarajevo, that now sit in judgment over us. And it was precisely these Western-backed structures that imposed a judiciary in violation of both the constitution and the Dayton agreement. Bosnia and Herzegovina, under Dayton and its constitution, was not intended to have its own court system, prosecutor's office, armed forces, intelligence services, or fiscal sovereignty. All of these competencies were meant to remain within Republika Srpska and the Federation. They elevated all of this to the state level, constructing a monstrosity called Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity that for the past 30 years has held people captive, including us, denying us the possibility of living freely. And that is precisely where our fundamental misunderstanding lies.

>> Mr. President, I just want to simplify this for the audience, for people who are not familiar with the, you know, the Dayton Peace Agreements. They don't understand the structure, um, of, uh, Bosnia and Herzegovina. So essentially, what you have is that with the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, um, the war developed between the, the Serbian people and, um, Muslim people who identify as Bosnian, and Croatian people. And when Dayton was agreed upon, Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into two parts. You are the president of one of those parts, Republika Srpska. And the Federation that you referred to is, um, contained, is the other half of the country that contains Bosniaks, who are predominantly Muslim, and Croats, who are outnumbered by the Muslims, but a significant population nonetheless. And so really, what you, what you're, what I want to understand is your vision, uh, for the future, because you are in a situation now where, um, you feel overwhelmed by, uh, this Islamic civilization that, uh, in your view, seeks to obliterate Christianity and Serbian history, Serbian tradition, Serbian identity. And you are in this awkward position where Dayton, the Dayton Peace Accords, put you under the authority of international organizations. Like, for example, you have a High Commissioner who is a foreigner. Your Supreme Court has nine justices, and, uh, two of them are Serb, two of them are, uh, Bosnian, two of them are Croatian, but three are foreigners. And, um, and so you, you have this unusual situation for any nation where your sovereignty is not determined. You're not in full control of your sovereignty. And what you feel is that the other, the Federation, which is ruled really by the Bosniaks, is meant to be a rotating presidency. The Croatians and, uh, the Serbs and the Muslims are supposed to all have equal kind of representation. But that this is being distorted. And, um, and that the, uh, foreigners who are involved in the Supreme Court, in other, uh, levels of power, the High Commission, the position of the High Commissioner, this is all weighted to the Islamic Muslim side. And, uh, that is working against any form of national identity for the Republic of Srpska. Would you agree with that?

Okay. So your situation now is that the High Commissioner, you, uh, who is currently in this position, your biggest problems with him are two things. One, that he's gone beyond the Dayton Peace Accords. At Bonn, another conference that was followed a few years later, the High Commissioner was given extra powers. But two, the, uh, High Commissioner himself has not been confirmed. The current High Commissioner, Schmidt, out of Germany, has not been confirmed by the United Nations Security Council. Therefore, in the eyes of, of Republika Srpska, he is, uh, holding this position illegitimately. He alleges on the other side that you're in violation of the law, that you're not honoring the laws, some of which he has been instrumental in instituting. But from your position, it doesn't matter what he says because he shouldn't be in this job in the first place because he was never confirmed. And to break down the legal picture, the Election Commission, uh, in Bosnia and Herzegovina has sided with the High Commissioner and has removed your recognition after you won not one election, not two elections, but three elections. And, uh, now you are now at odds with both the High Commission, plus the High Commissioner also passed a law that if you don't follow his laws, you're in violation of the law. So you're in all kinds of trouble now. They've removed you from your position as president. Um, they have, the court has convicted you. Uh, you were sentenced to a year, but under the laws here, you're able to pay a fine in lieu of prison time. Nevertheless, you're still not allowed to occupy a position of political power, uh, because you've been convicted of more than a crime, a sentence of more than six months. So the real question here is, what are you going to do? Because so far, you have refused to step down. So you are regarded technically as being in violation of the, the law, of the court, of the Election Commission's decision, and of the High Commissioner.

>> Yes. A highly complex situation, which you have explained remarkably well, with only a few minor clarifications, leaving little room for me to add. The position of High Representative was introduced through Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement, which stipulated that the High Representative should be appointed by the signatory parties: five in total, the Republic of Srpska, Serbia, Croatia, the Federation, and the joint level of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Once selected, the appointment is then to be confirmed by the United Nations. The current officeholder, however, has not undergone any part of that procedure. He was not selected by the signatories, nor has he been appointed by the United Nations. The clearest proof of this lies in the fact that he travels on a diplomatic passport of the Federal Republic of Germany, not of the United Nations, definitively confirming that he does not hold a legitimate mandate, nor can he possess any formal authority. According to the Dayton framework, his role was meant to be limited to offering guidance, convening meetings, facilitating communication, and similar functions. However, in 1997, seeking to effectively govern the country, international actors introduced what became known as the Bonn Conference. At that meeting, the then High Representative, Carlos Westendorp, a Spaniard, requested an expansion of authority from the so-called Peace Implementation Council, an informal group of countries with an interest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is not mentioned in either the Dayton Agreement or any UN document. Of course, the United States and other major powers of that time were involved. They established what is known as the Steering Board, which convenes at the level of ambassadors stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And so, despite all the formal definitions of authority we have here.

>> Yeah. And the US essentially controls that, that organization, right?

>> Yes. That's how it's been so far.

>> Yeah. So, America can dissolve that organization if they choose. Serious money is being poured in to keep it going, your taxpayer money. So this so-called Peace Implementation Council has ignored the situation, and its ambassadors meet every Friday. They enjoy it there. To be honest, Sarajevo is a boring city. You can spend about 15 days visiting the main sites, and after that, you're just stuck in boredom. And of course, it's quite appealing to be in charge of someone else's country. Why wouldn't it be? So these ambassadors get together and make decisions about who should do what, what laws should be passed. We say that just as you have autocracies, democracies, and technocracies, in Bosnia, we have what's known as ambassadocracy, because foreign ambassadors are the decisive factor. Whatever agreements we reach internally, if something doesn't suit them, they override it through the High Representative.

>> Wow. Does that drive you crazy? I mean, nobody wants to be ruled by people from the outside.

>> Yes, precisely. It comes from the outside, and they are the ones who not only impose those regulations upon us. To date, they've imposed 280 laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They have dismissed 900 individuals from official positions, including myself, even now. Is it truly possible that 30 years later, they are still doing the same thing? I could perhaps understand the need for a degree of interventionism in the immediate aftermath of the war, but I fail to see the justification today. Bosnia and Herzegovina has served as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and yet it remained a colony, a modern-day colony. This is the only remaining colony in Europe today. It is not overseas, not in some distant place. It is here in Europe, right where you are sitting. This very institution we're in, a local privately owned television station, is under sanctions simply because it supported the policies of Republika Srpska. It was sanctioned by the United States. Why? Because the Democratic administrations believed that everything bearing a Serbian designation must be dismantled. That is what they did to this television station as well. And yet, it survived thanks to the enthusiasm of the journalists and staff who work here. I mention this only to illustrate how these things play out on the ground. Now, as for Westendorp himself, who, by definition, was appointed as the High Representative tasked with reportedly interpreting the Dayton Peace Agreement, upon returning from the Bonn Conference, we have the transcript, and we can provide it. He came out at a press conference and stated plainly, "This is not in accordance with the Dayton Agreement. This violates the Dayton Agreement." This means, in order for us to accomplish what we need to, we must obtain new powers beyond the Dayton Agreement, beyond the signatory parties, beyond any existing framework. At the time, there were 60,000 foreign troops present here, the majority of them NATO forces. This was during the 1997 process of general disarmament and demilitarization. Of course, I support certain processes, but the abuse, the ongoing abuse is what matters here. And yes, you use the right word, maddening. What is the point of holding elections then? What is the point of accepting responsibility? Why do you insist that we go to the polls? Why not govern yourselves openly? Say it plainly. Don't hide. Why the disguise? You are the colonizer. Yet you conceal yourselves behind pretenses. That tells us everything. It means you are deceivers, frauds. You want to hide behind a facade. If you are the ones making the most important decisions, and you are, then say so. Take this example. The man Schmidt, who was neither lawfully appointed nor confirmed by the UN Security Council, suspended the constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other entity, even if just for a single day. Have you ever heard of such a thing in your life? And then the very next day, he reinstated the previous provisions just so something could be pushed through. Have you ever seen anything like that?

>> Was this position not supposed to be temporary? Under the original Dayton Peace, of course, it was supposed to last for five years and then be done. Is that correct?

>> Just one year. It was meant to last just one year. But here we are, 30 years later.

>> And now it's 30 years later, and this person is still supposed to...

>> Huh. I see. So, I mean, I think anybody can understand it must be frustrating for you to have foreigners dictating, um, how you live and interfering in, in your government and removing people from power. But the argument, I guess, would be that without it, there would be war, um, because you still haven't resolved a lot of, in fact, in some ways, the country is more divided than ever. There are fewer Serbs now in the Bosnian, uh, part, right? There's this population is much smaller. Before the war, there were, um, a significant number of mixed marriages. That's gone down. So what happens,

>> A bit.

>> you know, you know, how close is, uh, the situation here? How volatile is it? How close are you to civil war or to war breaking out again? Is this a danger?

>> No.

>> Yes, there are some aspects of the Dayton Agreement that were well-conceived. For example, the clear demarcation of the boundary between us. It clearly defines what constitutes the Republic of Srpska and what belongs to the others. What we're dealing with now are political processes of power transfer, which we reject because we do not want Muslims to be the ones making decisions about our lives. We wish to make decisions in accordance with the rights granted to us by the Dayton Agreement and the constitution. But no one here pays attention to that anymore. Only small actors like us still invoke international law, constitutions, and legal frameworks. The powerful ones are arrogant. They impose new rules every day. At least that was the case before Trump. Now I see that Trump wants to restore the rule of law. And that is what gives us hope to say, restore the original Dayton Agreement. You ask me what my plan is. Well, restore the original Dayton Agreement. But no one is interested in that. They have acquired a position of dominance and do not wish to relinquish it. That.

is why I believe the only realistic and rightful path for us is to secure our independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are not separatists, as they try to portray us. That term is deliberately used to provoke negative emotions. But we are not separatists. We are a contracting party. Bosnia and Herzegovina was established by agreement. And it is by withdrawing from that agreement, not by secession, that we assert our rights. We brought our territory to Bosnia and Herzegovina, 49% of it, and exercised full sovereignty over it. And under the pressure of the then Clinton administration, we said, "Fine, force does not ask for permission. We have no choice but to go along."

So, what's stopping you? Why don't you then? What's stopping you? What prevents you from doing that? If you want to be independent, of course, we seek international support, or at the very least, a measure of understanding. When it comes to the issue of war, it is the Muslim side that has been issuing threats. For the past 20 years, you would not have heard a single voice from the Serb side speak of war as a possibility. It is the Muslims who say, "If Republika Srpska seeks to separate, we will attack it." But why would they attack us? What would justify such an act? We have no desire for a single centimeter of Muslim territory. Muslims living in Republika Srpska live freely. If you had the time to visit their communities, you would see this for yourself.

Meanwhile, Serbs living in the Federation are subject to humiliation. Their communities are entirely neglected. Can you believe that even today there are Serb villages in the Federation under Muslim political control where there is no access to electricity? It is we from Republika Srpska who are building and maintaining those communities. The authorities there ignore them and clearly wish to see them disappear. In contrast, here in Republika Srpska, you can visit Bosniak communities and see for yourself that they live freely without any difficulty. Bosniaks make up around 12% of the population of Republika Srpska today. In the Federation, however, there were 470,000 Serbs before the war. According to the most recent census, that number has fallen to just 35,000. And those who remain are concentrated exclusively in municipalities that were overwhelmingly Serb prior to the war, or 100%. It is only in those municipalities that Serb communities have managed to survive. In Sarajevo, where Serbs once made up half the population, 156,000 people, every one of them left the city under pressure from the Muslim authorities, both during the war and in its aftermath. They have not returned. 156,000 Serbs, half of Sarajevo's population, departed. They left behind their homes and apartments, as well as infrastructure they had helped build: sewer systems, water supply networks, schools, universities, and public enterprises. We left it all. According to some estimates, the value of Serb contributions left behind in Sarajevo exceeds 150 billion. We simply walked away from it. Everything lost all at once.

And you left that there at the end of the war? In the interest of peace. Everything was left behind.

You know what I, um, you know what I understand, Mr. President? Something that I've learned in the time that I've been talking to you and a number of other people and researching. I, I think I, I now understand that, uh, while you had a war here before in the 1990s that got a lot of attention in the US at the time, the difference today is that if there were to be a conflict here, the Muslim side of the Federation is now connected to Islamic centers all across Europe that didn't exist in the 1990s. This would be a very different type of war. Am I right about that?

Yes, you're absolutely right. At that time, a network of so-called Islamic solidarity was being established, as they called it. But in reality, it was a network of Islamic terrorism spreading across Europe, including here. This was closely linked with similar organizations operating in Kosovo, Vienna, and many other places. At that time, the Muslim authorities in Sarajevo welcomed Bin Laden, who visited Sarajevo despite already being on international wanted lists as a criminal. He was being sought by the United States even then. Yet he freely visited Alija Izetbegović. Whenever we tried to bring attention to such individuals.

When was that?

That was in 1993. He was in Sarajevo. There is documented evidence of this in the media. And Izetbegović then was already the leader of the Muslim community. Yes. It is Begović was the Muslim leader who had served time in prison because during the Second World War he had belonged to the infamous Handžar Division, a unit made up exclusively of Muslims which had even been blessed, or however they call it, by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. This division committed some of the worst atrocities against Serbs in this region during the war. Alija Izetbegović had been a member of that Handžar Division. Later, he continued his involvement through the Young Muslims organization, which was a branch or affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood that had been formed on a global scale. After his release from prison, he immediately took on the role of Muslim leader here, and that marked the beginning of the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and the consolidation of Muslim political forces. He wrote a book titled "The Islamic Declaration," in which he stated that Muslims in Bosnia should strive to introduce Sharia law as the legal framework. There's also the recent example of his son, Bakir Izetbegović, a prominent contemporary politician in BiH, and a Muslim whose daughter got married in a ceremony conducted in accordance with Sharia law. The wedding was public, and the groom was, of course, from their community. What drew additional attention was the fact that the best man at the wedding was the President of Turkey, Erdogan. This happened two or three years ago, and the republic here talked about it extensively. Yet many people failed to recognize it as a potential concern. But for those of us who have read "The Islamic Declaration" by Alija, it is clear they are acting in line with its principles. In fact, that very document is the official ideological foundation of his political party, which is now led by his son, Bakir Izetbegović. They enjoy strong support from the Islamic community. Yes, the official Islamic community. During elections, nearly all mosques gather their congregants and instruct them on whom to vote for. And that's exactly how things usually unfold in BIH. So they function as an organized structure. I have nothing against their freedom, but I do not want them to impose their rules of conduct on me, nor their way of life. I do not want to betray my ancestors who under pressure.

I understand. I think it's how it's, I think it's how most people feel is that, you know, another human being, nobody wishes ill or harm on another human being. What you really are talking about is a political system that is, uh, working to install itself under its own law, Sharia, um, across the world. And, uh, Bosnia is sort of a microcosm for what that looks like. Um, it was, uh, the Muslim community came here with the Ottomans. The Ottomans were the first to bring it. I mean, this was a, uh, Serbian, uh, Orthodox Christian country from when, when I believe it was in the 1200s when, uh, the.

From the 6th century until the arrival of the Ottomans, which was in the 14th to 15th century.

Yes. And then formally declared as a separate branch of the, the Serbian Orthodox Church, right in the 1200s, from the 6th century all the way through. And then the first, um, the Ottomans first came here in what, in the late 1200s, um, in the 1300s.

In 1300. So, really, so this was a, uh, Christian, um, territory for hundreds of years before there were any, uh, Muslims present here. And now you're in a, you know, you're in a, a union, um, which is half, uh, Serbian and half Muslim Croatian, where you are now, uh, confronting this firsthand, and your right to recognize Christian holidays and Christian sites and remember your own Christian identity. You regard that as under threat.

Yes. Yes. Under constant pressure. Republic Day, January 9th, falls on the Orthodox holiday of St. Stephen, which, believe it or not, the Muslim side, with the support of the Democratic administrators, once again abolished for us six or seven years ago, claiming it offended Muslims. They celebrate every one of their holidays. For example, say you're working in Sarajevo as a Serb representative and you have a meeting scheduled on a Friday that starts at 11:00. If it's not finished by noon, it gets interrupted because the Muslims leave for Friday prayers, and you're left waiting two hours for them to return. And that's considered their right. If you've come from Banja Luka, it's not exactly convenient to go all the way to Sarajevo just to wait two hours. Now, I have nothing against their religious obligations, but don't schedule meetings at that time. Just don't do it. What are we supposed to do? Wander around Sarajevo while we wait? Do you know how many times I've sat for two hours waiting? And if I leave, then I'm seen as someone who's not cooperative, who's not tolerant, as if I'm the problem. Why impose that on me? I'm sorry, but why don't you respect me? Have I ever told a Muslim colleague, "Wait for me. I'm going to the Serbian Orthodox Church. You sit tight for two or three hours while our liturgy is going on." That has never happened. Never. But if you try to schedule a meeting in Sarajevo on a Friday at noon, good luck getting that slot.

But you have two opposing civilizations. They really, they really, uh, cannot coexist.

Exactly. We can't. That's true. The only just solution, divine justice, yes, but also human and civilizational justice, is for us to separate and live in peace. For no one to interfere with anyone else, and for all sides to show mutual respect. We should ensure freedom of movement and, of course, work together in the fight against terrorism. We Serbs are ready to be part of the global anti-terrorism community, and we don't want to witness such things happening anywhere in the world. But it is clear that the narrative for the 1990s, the one pushed by the Clinton and Madeleine Albright administrations, has lingered far too long. We are convinced here, it's hard to speak in terms of evidence, but our conviction is strong, that they were paid off with Arab capital, with money, to do us this harm and take the side of the Muslims, because we have found no plausible explanation. Whether or not that is truly the case, I cannot claim with certainty, and I wouldn't want that to be taken as a definitive statement.

Do you have any evidence to support that? I have a feeling I've heard certain indications, rumors, talk.

Of course, I don't have contacts or receipts. These things aren't done in a way that allows anyone to see the paperwork.

Yeah, because feelings is not evidence.

But, okay. So, but just to understand something, your critics, your critics would say that it is the case that you, uh, by, by pursuing independence, you are destroying the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that you are nationalists and separatists, and, um, and, and that this, uh, Bosnian identity is being, is under attack by the Serbs. Is that, would that be the criticism, the counterargument?

There is no such thing as Bosnian identity. Of course, they craft various narratives, but a Bosnian identity does not exist. What they want is for us, the Serbs, to renounce our belonging to the Christian civilization and to abandon being Serbs in order to become Bosnians. They want us to stop writing and speaking our language and to adopt theirs.

Right. I mean, before the Dayton Accords, was there a Bosnian identity?

They themselves, of course, did it through administrative measures. It was written in Dayton, and there is a Bosnian language, but until then, it hadn't even existed. No one had heard a Bosnian language. There was only the Serbo-Croatian language, nothing more. And then suddenly, in Dayton, someone added "Bosnian" into the agreement. And now, all of a sudden, we understand each other. We don't need interpreters. We all understand one another. But they're building this narrative that everyone living here must speak the Bosnian language. I say, "No, I'm a Serb, and I want to speak Serbian. I write in Cyrillic, and I don't want to write in anything else. But I'm not forcing you to speak Serbian. Speak whatever language you want. Chinese, Hebrew, whatever you like. Just don't force me to speak your language. If I feel the need, I will. But I don't want you imposing it on me." So there is neither such a nation nor such a thing as a Bosnian identity. What exists is a Muslim identity that is being imposed as a Bosnian identity. They tried to tell us, "You are Bosnian Serbs." Just listen to that. Bosnian Serbs. No, we belong to the Serbian people as a whole. There are Serbs living in America, right? But they're not American Serbs. They're Serbs living in America, just like people from other nations who live in the US identify that way. You can't accept being diminished like that as to manufacture some false Bosnian identity that doesn't exist. I don't dispute their right to embrace that identity, but I don't want to lose mine. I don't identify with Bosnia and Herzegovina. BIH is not my country. It never was a country, not in this form, and it was never a state for the Serbs. In 1961, Serbs made up 61% of the population in BIH. Today, if you'd look at the numbers, although that figure doesn't even matter anymore, it's just 33%. Most left due to the growing political dominance of the Muslims, even during the communist era. They moved to Serbia or to other parts of the world. As I've already mentioned, there are about 300,000 Serbs in Vienna and just as many in Chicago. We are a heavily displaced people from this region because we were never allowed to establish an authentic state of our own. The Germans will say when they created a unified Germany, one nation, one state, and they united West and East Germany, which was considered perfectly normal. But if I say that Serbs are one nation and deserve one state, Republika Srpska and Serbia, I'll be branded a separatist, a nationalist, and who knows what else. So I simply believe the time has come for nations to be granted their rights and for peoples to live as they wish. Just as President Trump himself said when he stated that he wants to cooperate on the basis of sovereignty and equality, not to govern others from distant offices. That in itself was a phenomenal statement. Even if he had done nothing else, it would have been enough. However, remnants of the deep state and the old administration still remain here. There are still people in the State Department who hold important positions and continue to promote the very same policies of the past, completely at odds with the approach of President Trump or of JD Vance, who came to Munich and said the following: "You must not be afraid of your voters. You must respect your voters. If you fear your voters, then you are not a democratic country." But what is Bosnia and Herzegovina really? What are our voters? What is the respect for us, for our will? If we go to the polls, just look at the absurdity here in Republika Srpska, where we are right now. There is not a single individual, not a single movement, not a single political party or social group calling for elections. They are removing me from office in order to force elections at the request of the Muslims in Sarajevo and the foreign administration, the occupiers. And now they say, "You must hold elections." Imagine that. We must hold elections. But we are not the ones asking for them. No one is. Not the opposition, not the trade unions, not the employers. No one is calling for elections. And yet we're being told we must hold them simply because someone in Sarajevo says so. So where is our respect in all of this? How can you claim we are equal partners? How can I, as a signatory to the Dayton Agreement, be subjected to dictates about what I must do? You are the ones who dismantled Dayton. It no longer exists. What remains is wreckage that objectively means nothing anymore. There is the constitutional Bosnia and Herzegovina, which I support. And then there is the anti-constitutional Bosnia and Herzegovina, which I do not support. And yet they say, "You are destroying Bosnia." Destroy Bosnia? No. I am working to dismantle a system that is anti-constitutional. Is that not legitimate? From everything I know, it is legitimate. It is not legitimate to violate the constitution. I'm not doing that. I am simply asking for what is written in the constitution to be restored to us. If that is done, I have no issue with Bosnia. But if it is not, why should I remain in a Bosnia and Herzegovina where we are subjected to something new every day? Today, you say we cannot have our own president, and then you attempt to curry favor with the new US administration by saying, "Make Dodik and the others hold elections and so on." So some official from the State Department, I know his name but I won't mention it now, comes to Sarajevo and says, "Just keep doing your job. We support the decisions of the court," even though that court is not provided for in the constitution. Then Schmidt says, "Anyone who opposes my decisions will be punished with six months to five years in prison." And under the law, if you're sentenced to more than six months, your political mandate is revoked. His goal was to ensure that I was punished just enough to strip me of my right to engage in politics. I speak openly. I don't hesitate. And that's what they don't like.

Okay. So, the question remains, what are you going to do? Because now they've called for a new election on October 25th. So, you have a choice. You have a choice. What are you going to do?

I mean, you have this, there's a Serbian component to the army.

We'll see. We have scheduled a referendum and we will carry it out. Our parliament has unanimously decided to hold a referendum and ask the people whether they accept what is being done, whether they want Schmidt to overturn our democratic elections, whether they support an unconstitutional court or a commission that strips us of our mandates. A mandate can only be given by the people.

So, who will vote in that? Will it be the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation and Republika Srpska? Will it be everybody who?

No, no, no. Only Republika Srpska.

Just in the Republika Srpska.

We are, in fact, an autonomous electoral unit. Everything that goes up to the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina is elected by us. Not a single function at the BIH level is elected across the entire territory of BIH.

But you will participate in that election.

Our decision is not to participate in those elections. That is a legitimate political response.

It's more of a referendum than an election. Is that right?

Yes. To begin with, I have objection to one of our candidates being nominated and winning the election. Our current level of support is considerable, and the party is on the verge of securing an absolute majority. My personal approval rating after 23 years of leading Republika Srpska stands at 62%. So, I have absolutely no issue with that. I'm not afraid of elections, but this is about something else entirely. According to the constitution of Republika Srpska, which is considered the highest legal document and equal in status to the constitution of BIH, the president may be removed only through voluntary resignation or by holding a referendum on dismissal, not by any court decision. They are violating the constitution, violating everything. And now we're expected to simply let that happen. And then they say, "If they comply, then we must be right." So, will it happen or not? We'll likely have further discussions. Just yesterday, we heard a stunning, almost unbelievable statement. The president of the Central Election Commission, who is a Muslim from Sarajevo, publicly said, "We expect that people in Republika Srpska won't go out to vote, but we have 42 locations in the other part of BIH where Muslims living in Republika Srpska can vote, and we will declare the elections based on that." Can you imagine? It's unbelievable. And what can you even do in the face of that? How do you fight it? But they're openly saying what they intend to do. They're so arrogant. They claim that not a single person has to vote in Republika Srpska. Muslims from the Federation will vote, and they'll declare a winner. And of course, they have their favorite Serbs. The Muslims have their preferred Serb candidates they would like to see in that position.

And what exactly is going to be on the ballot? What are people going to be voting for and against?

I don't know. No one knows that yet. If we put it to a referendum, the question will be, "Do you support Schmidt, the unconstitutional court, and the stripping of mandates?" We believe the answer will be a resounding no. And we already have a strong sense that this is how the people feel. If that referendum result is not respected, if the will of our people is ignored, then we'll initiate a second referendum, this time to call for independence. And yes, we will then seek support for that. So what we're trying to do now is to establish some kind of normalcy.

Wow. Okay. So this is a, this is a very volatile situation.

Yes, instability exists at the level of BIH, but in Republika Srpska, the situation is highly stable. There is a dominant majority with the full support of the people, and that is not in question. We hold nearly two-thirds of the seats in parliament and have a functioning government. So we don't face the kind of problems they do. Even hypothetically, if they were to somehow impose their own person as president, how would they install him? The constitution states clearly the president must take the oath before parliament. Well, what if my people simply walk out? Then there is no one left in parliament before whom would this person take the oath? How do they intend to carry that out? Why are they creating additional problems here? Why do they not respect even the minimal will of this people? Why are they trying to discipline the people who tell them what they must do? Where in the democratic world does that exist? This isn't Zanzibar or some other country with long-standing traditional problems.

Yeah. Yes. Um, where does President Trump stand in all of this?

Of course, the President, all credit to him, has remarkable energy. Considering how demanding it is for me to lead even a small community, I can only imagine how challenging it must be for him. I'm required to work 20 hours a day, at the very least 15, and that's just in my position. So, I can only imagine what it's like for him as the president of such a powerful country like the United States with all the problems he faces, including domestic issues related to the transition of power, which is likely proving difficult. Of course, there are also economic issues, and I'm pleased to hear that he has succeeded in revitalizing the American economy. He is undoubtedly a decisive figure when it comes to stabilizing the world. Someone who should work to rehabilitate America as a reliable partner rather than a global policeman. That is a serious transition, one that offers an opportunity for America to be admired once again instead of feared. I believe President Trump is aware of some of these matters. I have a very good relationship with Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary, and I know that he has discussed the issue of the Balkans with President Trump. I also know that at one point President Putin brought up the Balkan issue during a phone conversation with Trump. This was even publicly reported, and that the topic was explicitly mentioned. I know that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his associates have a strong understanding of this issue.

Just to illustrate another absurdity of Bosnia during the terrorist attacks on the kibbutz and the music festival in October 7th.

Yes, exactly. When 1,400 young people were killed. I visited that kibbutz and the concert site and witnessed firsthand the horrors of what took place. At that time, we decorated the presidential building, the same one you were in, with the Israeli flag as a gesture of support. Meanwhile, in Sarajevo, they displayed a different flag. They expressed support for Gaza and Hamas and held rallies. This clearly shows the ongoing stance they maintain in Sarajevo. Of course, they are now condemning Israel and the Jewish people, even accusing them of genocide. They're saying that the Jews are the ones who did this, following the same tried and tested pattern they used to easily label us in the past, but they didn't even try to hide it. For example, just two months ago, they canceled and prohibited the already scheduled Congress of European Rabbis, which was set to take place in Sarajevo. It was banned just two days before it was supposed to happen. And just two weeks ago, there was a group of Israelis.

So, can I, can I see that? Um, this is, um, basically.

Here you are.

So this is the Israeli conflict since October 7th viewed through the lens of this kind of sums up the Federation. This is from Sarajevo, the capital of the Federation side that is.

Which is the Muslim side of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And this is your parliament building with the Israeli flag on it. So this.

This is sort of, um, a symbolic representation of the clash of civilizations.

Yes, that is a realistic depiction. That's life, and it's still happening today. When the Israeli ambassador tried to present documentation about the killing of those 1,700 young people, she was forbidden from doing so in Sarajevo. So we offered to host it instead, since our East Sarajevo borders the city. That's why we call Muslim Sarajevo Middle Eastern Sarajevo, because we Serbs live in East Sarajevo, and we refer to the rest as Middle Eastern, which is fitting, and this is proof of that. Even today, you still have officials speaking out against Jews and Israel. Just a few days ago, Željka Cvijanović, the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, launched an initiative and proposed that the tripartite presidency support the nomination of President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. I believe he truly deserves it. You remember the story of Obama receiving the Nobel Prize just months into his term, an award he hadn't earned at all. And now look at President Trump's efforts to promote peace around the world, efforts that are truly monumental, and I say that sincerely. And the nomination was brought up at a presidency session, and there are two Muslim members there. Well, one of them is nominally a Croat, but he was elected with Muslim votes and votes the way they want him to. So essentially, you have one Muslim and one Croat, but that Croat represents Muslim interests and votes accordingly. They wouldn't even allow the proposal to be placed on the agenda for discussion, to support the idea that Trump deserves a Nobel Prize. Their goal is to stall, to wait out the Trump era, to see if it comes to an end, and then to welcome the Democrats back into power so they can.

To be over.

It's a waiting game. They're waiting for the Democrats to get back in power and for Trump to be.

Diving their time. That's what they're counting on. So, uh, what's interesting is that a lot of people in the United States could not see the Islamic alliance with the left before October 7th. Um, when it became very obvious because of the protests on campus, on university campuses all across America, people got to see it, but it had been there for quite some time. Um, and it seems like here, your feeling is that whether it's Clinton, Obama, Biden, um, that those, uh, leftist administrations have sided, uh, with the your Muslim neighbors over the Serbs. That's your feeling.

So, uh.

That is a fact. And you have experienced that Islamic-leftist alliance in person. Can you give me an example or how you see that?

Indeed, pan-Islamism and liberalism, or rather neoliberalism, are increasingly aligned in producing exceptionalist policies that they seek to present to the world as universal values. Liberalism has, in a way, embraced pan-Islamism as a vehicle through which to affirm its core tenets of human rights and freedoms, often at the expense of national sovereignty and institutional authority. The weaker the state, the stronger the liberal idea, or so the logic goes. And in fact, they seem to have found common ground. When you add communism to the mix, a variant of the broader leftist-liberal movement, it becomes easier to grasp how these global ideologies, liberalism, communism, and pan-Islamism, have all been directed against traditional society and the way of life that has long existed in this region. Just like pan-Islamism, communism shows little regard for the individual. To both, people are expendable. And as for the idealism embedded in liberalism, there is little need to elaborate. As you know, their official policy is essentially this: the individual is what matters. Forget the community. What counts is your personal freedom, your job, and that come Friday and Saturday, you should go out drinking, find a partner, spend the weekend however you like, and then return to work on Monday. There is no sense of community, no regard for belonging or shared values. In general, I would even go as far as to say that liberalism, communism, and pan-Islamism are merely separated by a thin veneer. They are at their core the same ideology with a shared goal of dismantling traditional society. That is why Trump is a colossal figure, a civilizational phenomenon. And I don't say this because I expect him to do anything in particular. Let the sanctions against Dodik remain for the next 10 years. Let our current situation remain unchanged. But as someone who strives to think both politically and as a human being, I see in that colossal figure a chance for civilization to reposition itself on the right path. Trump is not anti-Muslim, but he is a Christian. So why is it a problem to respect that? Why is it that here every single Muslim holiday is allowed to be publicly celebrated, yet Orthodox Christian holidays are not? How is it possible that we are forbidden from marking our own religious holidays? Where else does that happen? Have you ever heard of such a thing outside of rigid communist regimes? Because that's exactly how communism operated. It's the same pattern all over again. I remember that I was young at the time, but it was the same. The church and religion were forbidden. I was born in a rural community, and my parents remained devoted to traditional Orthodox values. Even as a child, I could feel that those things had to be kept hidden, that you couldn't show them openly because a neighbor or someone else might report you to the authorities, and you could end up in trouble. And what's the difference now with what these Muslims are doing to us? That's exactly the point. It's the same alliance, the same pattern, just wrapped in three different layers.

Um, it's very interesting because having, I lived for many years in Iraq, for example, and the Christian community is so tiny, it's been all but obliterated, but people have forgotten that for centuries before the Ottomans conquered that land, uh, there it was Christians. It was first it was Jews, then it was Christians as well. And, um, the Muslims only came a lot time afterwards, but they are very much prohibited from celebrating and living their faith. Um, and nobody says a word. Nobody cares. I want to ask you about President Trump because I know you supported him in 2016. You supported him again in 2024, and you mentioned the fact that you're under sanctions, but we haven't explained that. Um, how did you come to be, uh, under sanctions in the first place, and what have you been sanctioned for?

So during Obama's first term, I tried to explain things at the time, but during Trump's first campaign, I became actively engaged and openly supported his victory. I worked within our Serbian community to help that happen, and I cooperated with people from Trump's campaign team. They recognized my contribution and proposed that I be invited to the inauguration for Trump's first term along with my wife and Mrs. Katanović. However, under protocol, the invitation had to be forwarded to the administration because I hold a form of official status, and it's generally unusual for foreign presidents to attend inaugurations. Still, they decided to invite me. That moment gave the Obama administration the opportunity to seize on my name, and in the end, they denied me a visa and prevented me from attending the inauguration.

And just two days later, on January 19th of that year, they imposed sanctions on me, claiming that I was violating the Dayton Agreement. Imagine that. Me, someone who is fighting to uphold the original Dayton Agreement. A complete lie, an utter falsehood. My wife did attend the inauguration. She stood very close to President Trump, and we are very proud of that. So, right when they're at the end of the Obama administration, when he's two days away from being gone forever, they impose sanctions on you.

Amazing. And what do those sanctions mean?

Yes, it was Obama who imposed them, and later the Biden administration expanded those sanctions to include me, my daughter, my son, my extended family, my associates, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Parliament, half the government, Mrs. Katanović as well. All of us are under sanctions simply because we refused to follow their orders.

And when was that?

Right before he left office.

Yes. And with Biden, it's essentially the same scenario. Just a few days before Biden's departure, the sanctions were expanded to cover a wide circle of people. Today, more than 50 individuals from Republika Srpska are under sanctions. Imagine that. Some of them were sanctioned simply for having participated in organizing the Republic Day celebration. That alone was listed as the reason. It's no small matter. They closed their bank accounts, were unable to hold accounts, meaning we're effectively barred from engaging in any legal activity. As president of the republic, I receive my salary through a cashier. Literally, it's paid out at the cashier's office of the institution.

You get a check in the mail.

You have no bank account.

None.

And you cannot open an account. Not even here in your own country. Neither does my daughter, my son. None of us. None of those who've been sanctioned have an account. What happened was that Ambassador Murphy, he's a fascist, frankly, came here and threatened the banks. He said, "If you allow these people to open accounts, we will revoke your access to SWIFT." And that, of course, means no international transactions. The bank is effectively ruined. Right. Out of fear that it might actually happen, the banks complied.

So, this is the US ambassador.

Yes, the US ambassador.

Mark Marcy. Yes, he came here, gathered the bankers and said exactly that, and then he followed through. Here in Banja Luka, there's a US consulate office, and the highest-ranking official from that office went from bank to bank to check whether the instructions were being followed. Unbelievable, really.

So you have an American embassy in, um, in Sarajevo in the Federation, and you have an American diplomatic office in Banja Luka. Correct. Yes, it did exist, but with Trump's arrival, it has been shut down, or it is expected to be shut down. I'm not entirely sure. In any case, I believe it won't exist much longer. But in truth, there shouldn't even be a US.

So, is there a US representative here now?

It exists. Yes. But.

Who's that?

Yes, that's right. We'll find the names for you, but I don't know.

Is it the same person that was there through Biden, or is it a new person?

Biden's. Yes. Yes. It's the same.

So, you still have a Biden representative in place here.

But he's frightened now. He's scared of every public word I say about it, afraid it might get out. He's a scoundrel. He went around visiting companies here, shut down several companies simply because they supposedly had ties or some form of cooperation with us. One such company was Pointer, which employed 140 electrical engineering graduates, including, I believe, 11 with Master's degrees and six PhDs in electrical engineering. They operated in the IT sector and had an annual turnover of around $100 million, which for us is a significant sum, and that company was shut down. They claimed that the company was close to our family, which is simply not true. We had nothing to do with it, but many people lost their jobs. It's unbelievable. All I want is to see a fair America. That's what I place my hope in the new administration. They don't have to take my word for anything. All I ask is that they take the time to truly understand the situation. And once they do, then let them make a decision, but not a shallow one based only on narratives coming out of Sarajevo. Let them look at the actual facts. If, after that, they conclude that Dodik deserves sanctions for 100 years, I will accept it. But only once they've truly examined the reality. Imagine they've targeted me with four rounds of detailed financial investigations. Do.

Is there a US ambassador in Sarajevo now?

No. No.

Biden's ambassador left, and no one's been replaced.

Yes, that's correct.

No one has replaced him. There's still no one there. And there doesn't need to be. Sarajevo is simply misusing the situation. You could cover that from Zagreb or Belgrade. That might even be better, actually, if.

From Zagreb in Croatia or Belgrade in neighboring Serbia.

Well, it could be from Montenegro or anywhere else, from any country. Let me just say this. The US embassy in Sarajevo had over 150 local employees, 95% of whom were local Muslims. The head of the press center.

Is that still the case today?

Yes. Yes. No, not all of them. Many were contract workers whose contracts have since ended, but a significant number of them are still there. The head of the press center at the US embassy in Sarajevo is a local Muslim woman who during the war served as a spokesperson for the Muslim side. So what is her role now? And how can one expect that to be objective? In what way is that objective? She was the one issuing statements. She was the one speaking to the media, condemning us, shaping that entire narrative, and of course, that was convenient for the ambassadors for them to conduct their work in that manner. The United States, in essence, hasn't had any real interest in Bosnia and Herzegovina for quite some time. So the American ambassador here has essentially acted like a local sheriff. We used to say it's like an elephant entering a glass house, completely oblivious to its surroundings. That's exactly how things played out, especially with the most recent ambassador we've had.

Have you been, uh, targeted because of your support for President Trump, do you think?

Yes, exactly. That's essentially what happened. I believe that's why I wasn't invited to the inauguration and why my visa application at the time was rejected. Had I not gone to the embassy and they hadn't seen the purpose of my visit, maybe the sanctions wouldn't have come right then. Maybe they would have come later, but in essence, it was directly connected. Up until that point, I had no sanctions, and I didn't even realize how serious the situation was. But I found Trump likable. I saw something in him. Before entering politics, I was involved in business myself. Of course, he operated on a much larger scale. But I recognized a kind of pragmatism in him that brought new energy and a sense of realism into politics. Real life, real language, instead of the usual recycled political platitudes that go on and on without meaning anything. That's why I liked it.

Sure.

Um, it seems like you have something in common, uh, with President Trump, or President Viktor Orbán of Hungary, or whether it's President Putin. You know, all of you are portrayed as being fascist and nationalist. Um, and yet all of you are fighting for family, are fighting for faith, um, and are fighting for sovereignty. And so it would seem logical that the people who condemn you all, um, are fighting against those things. They don't want family to be honored and recognized. They don't, uh, believe in faith. They don't want God to be part of the conversation. They want God pushed aside. Not a Muslim, not, uh, other religions, whether it's Islam or something else, just Christianity. And you, you know, like for example, they go nuts about Orbán and and Putin, but nobody ever talks about the fact that Orbán and Putin both believe very strongly in an agenda that is counter to the globalist agenda. The open borders, uh, agenda is what's really the issue here. Right. And the open borders people are aligned with political, uh, Islamic civilization. It's really, um, it's really quite something. And I, I, I wonder how you, for me, the way I understand it, these international organizations like the World Health Organization, like the United Nations, like the World Economic Forum, and so on, they're almost like the offices of a federal global government. And the local governments are the NGOs, the non-governmental organizations that are put in place and supported and funded by organizations like USAID, which we used to think was an arm of the US government, but in a sense, it's more an arm of the globalists. It's been hijacked for a long time, and of course, run by the, uh, CIA. So I wonder what has been, uh, the role of USAID here and in your situation.

Well, they were clearly what President Trump himself described them as, a criminal organization. Unfortunately, here they tried to push some small-scale projects on us worth $50,000 to $100,000. And then when Trump pointed out that this was a problem, and I believe Soros should be added to that list, it became clear that they had been bankrolling Soros globally through these projects, who in turn funded the media, individuals, and NGOs. Listen, here we have a term "non-governmental organization." Yet it's directly funded by us, a government agency. So how is that a non-governmental organization? Who are you trying to fool? But this is exactly what you mentioned. It's part of a globalist concept where there's supposedly some kind of global government that knows what's best for everyone and dictates what each of us should do. And then they establish a funding structure. But how is it logical that you place more trust in two or three individuals giving them $2 million a year or $100,000, whatever the amount, than in governments, parliaments, and democratically elected representatives? USAID was involved in those covert operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that's well known, and I can later provide all the relevant data. There's even a public statement by the Minister of Finance of BIH regarding USAID, stating how much money entered the country during that period. But official figures from USAID's own headquarters show $150 million more than that. In other words, $150 million was accounted for elsewhere on the site, but never actually reached Bosnia and Herzegovina, which suggests it was used for various forms of manipulation. That's why the two things Trump did, targeting USAID and that whole system, were crucial. Now, the Europeans are stepping in, taking over support for those poor souls from the NGO sector. They're paying them, desperately trying to keep that structure alive. Still clinging to the belief that Trump will soon be gone and they will return. But there are two things. Many of our people live in Western Europe, but they are now beginning to return. They no longer want their children to endure the pressures of this globalist agenda of so-called LGBT values, where, for example, on Fridays, boys are required to wear skirts, put on makeup, or style their hair like girls. In their schools, gender-specific bathrooms no longer exist. There is only one unisex restroom. And when you arrive in Vienna, for instance, the traffic lights show two male figures holding hands as a signal to cross the street. To me, honestly, it was all their own business. They can do whatever they want, wherever they want, just don't impose it on society as a whole. I was one of the first in the Balkans to oppose the so-called Pride Parade. What exactly is there to be proud of? They always find some name to cover it up, to frame it in a certain way. And I said, "No, I don't want to provide security for that event, and our police will not be providing it either. If you want to hold it, you hold it yourselves." Of course, a few of them showed up. Then some people told them they couldn't just walk around freely there. And then they say, "Look what Dodik is doing." I'm not doing anything. I didn't invite them here. Why are they doing this? I have a family. Have I ever imposed my family as some sort of dominant model on anyone? No, we haven't done that. So then they went even further. They've now written into the legislation of the European Union, the UK, and all those European countries that you can declare yourself to be a cat, a lion, a horse, a cow, whatever. And others are required to respect that. They are obliged to respect it as a matter of personal freedom.

They're crazy.

Madness. Exactly.

They're crazy.

Absolute madness.

No, it's, it's not even real. It's called mass delusion. And they're demanding that we all participate.

Exactly. It's the destruction of everything traditional. And then Trump comes along and says,

As far as I'm concerned, there's a man, a father, and a woman, a mother. That's it.

And I feel the same way. And for me, that alone, what he did with us a global level, and indirectly for me is more than enough. You see, why is the European Union blocking us now? They say Dodic is anti-European. And why? Because I refuse to allow our laws to include wording like parent one and parent two where a child is supposed to decide who the mother is and who the father is. So now the woman can say she's the father. I mean, isn't that absurd? I don't want that. I have seven grandchildren and I don't want them to grow up in a value system like that because it's completely distorted and of course that puts me at odds with others. So Schmidt comes along and says he doesn't comply. We need to remove him. We need someone who stays quiet, who accepts everything, who lets it all in, and it can all go to hell for all I care. You see, but they think they're the only ones resolving things that way. What they're actually doing is uniting us. And as far as I'm concerned, just like Trump, who in his first time had no real reason to continue, he was wealthy, had a family, stability, and so on. But what drove him, and I believe the same goes for me, are principles. You simply cannot allow corrupt or bad people to govern you. It's not about what you have. Just like him, he has immense wealth. Of course, I'm not poor either. I entered politics here as someone who owned a company and was involved in important business. I'm nowhere near his level. But relatively speaking, given our circumstances, I can't say I'd struggle if I left politics tomorrow. In any case, I probably have the least need to go through all this hardship. But it comes down to principles. You have to fight. If you leave the space open to these globalists, then tomorrow my grandson will be expected to wear a skirt. What am I supposed to do then? Lose my mind? How am I supposed to accept that? I won't. That's why I fight.

>> So, you mentioned the fact that you were a businessman um yourself. You also talked a little bit about um the war. You were a young lieutenant and you you chose not to go in and fight, right? And rise up the ranks and you said that you um that you saved a Muslim family. Can you tell me a little bit uh about that? Which family did you save and and how?

>> Yes, that was during a time when here in this region there was no electricity for the entire four years of the war. At night, we had to rely on improvised, long-forgotten means of lighting. Candles, oil lamps, mostly rudimentary. There was no street lighting, no fuel. Only essential services were given limited access to fuel. The asphalt road you used to get to this town, grass had started growing through it as there was no traffic. That's the kind of situation we were in. At the time, I was at the front, but I was also serving as a member of the National Assembly. I had the privilege of receiving a fuel voucher to use when attending sessions. Landline phones were still working, but there were no mobile phones. In Gradiska, a town about 50 kilometers from here, Muslim and Croatian forces entered. It was a Serb town and killed, I believe, 14 Serbs. Then some of the Serb relatives began searching for Muslim and Croatian families in Gradisa to carry out acts of revenge. That's something that unfortunately happens in war. I'm not justifying it, but that's how it was. That night I got a phone call from two families, Muslim, the Vakovich family and Croatian, the Gupich family. Since we had known each other from earlier in life, I didn't hesitate. Wow. That same night, while gunfire was echoing throughout the town, I took my parliamentary ID card, got into my private car, and made my way there. I seated the families in my car. There were seven of us in total. The Rakovich family, a husband, wife, and two sons, and the Goo family, a husband, wife, and daughter. We squeezed into my modest passenger car, an old Opel. As I was leaving the town, we came upon checkpoints manned by the Serbian army. I knew that if the soldiers recognized them, they would also execute me. Such was the atmosphere. They would kill you. Pure wartime reality. Unbelievable. So I got out of the car before they could approach since they were locals and might recognize each other. I got out of the car, showed them my parliamentary ID and said, "Why are you stopping me? I need to get through urgently." One of them replied, "Go ahead. Who's stopping you?" And that's how I managed to bring them, those two families, to my apartment 30 km away. They stayed hidden there for 5 days. After that, I arranged everything through my fellow MPs. I took photos of them, obtained identification documents, inserted their pictures, and gave them Serbian names. Then I placed them in two cars that drove them through Serbia and into Hungary. That's how they survived. That was the... There is no such example from the Muslim side. No one has ever told a story like that. And now I'm supposedly the one to blame. But I understand it. This is all part of a political strategy aimed at securing Muslim dominance, which I do not support. I have never tried to dominate anyone. The only people I dominate are my political opponents, and I defeat them consistently, just as I would again now. But they won't allow it. Had they been certain I would lose the election, they wouldn't have touched me at all. But when they run the polls and crunch the numbers, they see that Dodic remained strong. So there's no other way for them to deal with it except like this. They accused me of being a thief, a criminal, just as they did with Trump. And then they couldn't find anything. They conducted various international investigations over a fact. The FBI was involved because the Democrats and others were pushing to find something. They found nothing. And so they punished me. Not for theft, not for corruption, but because I refuse to recognize the foreign occupier Schmidt. That's the reason. Because I do not comply with his decisions. That's all. It's not that Dodic took something or committed a crime. No, they even tried to take me to court. After the war, I became prime minister in 1998. And I saw it was widespread policy. You know, when you come out of a war, you're left with nothing. I had this small company of mine that operated in Belgrade and so on. It was in the furniture business. I've never had a problem with, let's say, dressing well. But when I saw that out of 20 ministers, 15 of them kept showing up day after day in the same suit or shirt, no tie, nothing. I asked them, "How can you dress like that? Why don't you change your clothes?" And they said, "Mr. Prime Minister, my salary is 400 marks and a suit costs 500. I have a family to feed." So I made a decision. I said the government's decision is that each minister will be provided with two shirts, three or four shirts and a tie so they can appear presentable when attending meetings to look proper and professional. And for that, they dragged me through the courts for 4 years accusing me of abuse of office. Mind you, I didn't buy a single suit for myself, just for them. And I could have. There was no restriction. In 2001, they launched proceedings against me and two years later. By then, I was already in the opposition. The US ambassador, Christopher Bond, came to me. I don't even know if he's still alive. He said, "I must see you urgently." I hadn't seen him since I left office 2 years earlier, but I'd prefer not to meet in an official setting. I'd like to come to your private residence. Well, like any good Serbian host, I prepared a proper breakfast, what we imagined to be a typical American breakfast. I welcomed him warmly and he said to me, "Shall we take a walk?" I said, "Sure. Near my house, there's a small lake and a walking path around it." So, we set off. He spoke our language and he said, "Listen, Mr. Dodic, I've been sent here on behalf of the State Department." This was in 2002 or 2003 and the State Department is asking that you plead guilty. I mean, no, there is no guilt, but we want to strengthen the rule of law in this country and it seems appropriate that if we convict high-profile politicians, it will send a strong message. I said, "Are you serious?"

>> Plead guilty to what?

>> Yes. Yes. To plead guilty. And he said they would arrange for me to be sentenced to 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence. So I wouldn't actually serve time. But it would say I was guilty, that I was a criminal. Right.

>> Yeah.

>> It would say that.

>> I asked him if he was serious saying that to me.

>> But plead guilty.

>> He thought I should do it.

>> What? What were the charges? Plead guilty to what?

>> Corruption.

>> For those suits and for things like flowers, you know, around here wherever someone was killed. When I go as president, we lay flowers at the memorial. It's part of our Christian tradition. Over those three years of my term, the total came to around 14,000 marks, which is about $7,000. And they said I had misused those funds, and that's why I ended up in court. And he says to me, "Well, I think we would really appreciate it." I said to him, "Are you seriously telling me this, Mr. Bond?" He says, "Yes, very seriously." I said, "Listen, instead of throwing you into this fish pond here, and who knows what I'd do to you, how dare you come onto my property and threaten me like this?" He told me that if I didn't go along with it, this would happen, that would happen, and so on. I told him to leave my property immediately and not provoke me again. He got in his car and drove off. And from that moment on, I began having major problems with their administrations. That's the story.

>> I don't believe that brings any honor to the United States. Here, America is perceived as a great country, a great civilization, the leading nation of our civilization. And when it comes down to such petty matters, the image of that powerful country collapses, the very country in which we look for our future and guidance.

Sure, I I can understand that. But I have a question for you. Why, I mean, President Trump can lift the sanctions like this. He can change everything. Why hasn't that happened? I mean, have you been able to speak to him? I know you were one of the first foreign leaders, some say the first, to congratulate him on his victory on election night. So, um surely no,

>> uh you should be able to get an audience from President Trump or you've been uh are you having to go through the State Department still?

>> Well, we're still quite informed here. We're a small community and I believe there's a circle of people who are blocking access to the president. I also believe that you will help ensure that my voice is heard. As I've already said, I'm not asking for any recognition. Everything I supported Trump for, he has already done. All I ask for now is justice and I believe only America can deliver that. No one else. Europe is rotten, a decaying continent with nothing left. It presents itself like an aging, crumbling ruin. Just like the great empires that fell into decay and depravity. Just as the Roman Empire collapsed in moral decline, so too is Brussels falling into the same kind of decadence. If we take into account everything we just discussed, then it's clear that's exactly the situation. I can't expect anything from them. All I can expect is harm. What pains me, however, is that some holdovers from previous US administrations now in positions within the current one continue to keep everything closed off. They won't allow the truth to come to light or to be acknowledged. As I've said, they don't have to take my word for it. Let them send people they trust most and let them judge for themselves whether what I'm saying is true or not. I ask for nothing more. I will continue to support Trump. I will continue to support a free America because I believe only a free America can be a good America for everyone. A democrat-led America is a threat to civilization. And when I say democrat, I don't mean the system of democratic governance. I mean the Democratic Party and the people in it because I interacted with them personally. They are cynics. They are unfulfilled individuals. People who have failed both personally and professionally who when they find themselves in third countries like ours reveal the full extent of their own moral corruption. They seek to dominate others in the worst possible way all while hiding behind the immense authority of the United States.

>> So for you, President Trump is fighting the same globalist forces that you are fighting here.

>> Correct.

>> Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely.

>> So what happens if he fails?

>> We fought. We truly did. And that's an honorable thing. You know, it's pitiful when someone has never fought for anything in their life. At least he and I have had the chance to fight. I'm convinced that we are absolutely right and that this is the only just path. So those small defeats, those lost battles along the way, they're just that, lost battles, not a lost war. His return is impressive. As I said, he could have stayed quiet, faced no particular trouble, but he came back to show both America and the world that his politics are a politics of hope. And a politics for the ordinary man. I am truly happy that America accomplished this in such a masterful way, giving him an indisputable mandate at the elections. We openly supported him while in Sievo the Muslims were holding rallies for Harris, Biden's candidate. That is why even now there is a certain bitterness because they gloat. You know, it pains me when people from Sievo come and say, "So, there's your Trump. That's why you suffered. That's what you got for it." But I never asked for anything. All I wanted was for America to change. I will not deny that it is somewhat easier now. Yes, it is easier. Not having an ambassador breathing down my neck every day over one thing or another. Yet, the consequences remain. All I ask is that if President Trump is cleansing the evils the Democrats inflicted upon America, he also cleansed the damage they left behind here, nothing more. And

>> I do not believe that should be difficult.

>> Did it uh appear to you that President Joe Biden was actually um mentally competent and present or was it obvious to you and other world leaders that he had dementia?

He got through it one way or another. But of course, we can talk about that as well. Even for someone like me who isn't an American, it was humiliating to witness several of those outbursts that became symbolic of the situation simply because this is America. America must have a president. It cannot be someone who stumbles down the stairs. It cannot be someone who fails to recognize people when interacting with them. It cannot be someone who doesn't remember what he just said or who is supposed to turn left but walks off to the right. It was an embarrassment. He was an embarrassment to America. That much is true. However, one may judge him otherwise. He diminished America's authority in the worst possible way. It was a disgrace to the United States. I don't think it's my place to comment on that. But since you've asked, I'm speaking as someone who cares about order and stability. You can't have someone who can't string together two coherent sentences or keeps mixing up names, calling one person by another's. Being president of the United States is not a comedy act. It's a serious job. You know, when Trump steps forward, just seeing his presence, the way he handles things is enough to understand that its strength, his strength is America's strength, or rather America's strength is reflected in its president. And that's clear. At one point in time, America chose to defile its own power and authority through Biden, who is the way he is. People talk about conspiracy theories. I don't believe in theories. I believe there were just conspiracies. I am convinced that someone else was pulling the strings while he served merely as a front, one who neither understood nor grasped what was truly happening. The very fact that he wasn't even able to secure a nomination from his own party shows just how little recognition he had among his own people. So why should I see him any differently? That system caused great harm to me and to my people. I should by all rights be far more severe, if not outright scathing in my assessment of him. But he's finished now. What we're left dealing with are the consequences of his presidency. It was as if some storm swept him into America. Just imagine a man who couldn't even govern himself was meant to govern the entire world. That simply doesn't work. Some serious mistakes were made as a result. And now I expect President Trump and his team to correct them. Nothing more.

>> It was embarrassing for the US and it was recognized widely while people in the US were still lying to themselves about him about his mental ability. It was obvious to the rest of the world that he was long gone.

>> Then the problem is theirs. When something is so obvious and they still choose to ignore it, then they have a problem. If they can't recognize what's real and factual, what can we possibly expect? Illusions. They're living in some fantasy world like Martians or something. It's a simple matter. Can you walk down a flight of stairs or not? Can you deliver a coherent speech or not? Do you recognize people or don't you? I genuinely felt sorry for him in the end. Why did he do that to himself? Why allow himself to be put in that position? Is holding on to power really so important that you're willing to expose yourself like that in public so that half of America and the whole world end up laughing at you? Why? And what exactly is his legacy? Tell me, what has he actually achieved? Is there anything of substance that got done? Was the withdrawal from Afghanistan not disgraceful? Wasn't it under his watch? Did they not throw their support behind this war in Ukraine? Have they not taken sides here too? They needed one place in the world, Biden and his people, where they could say, "Look, here we're doing good things for Muslims." And they chose Bosnia. And then I became collateral damage. They kept insisting, "We don't want a Muslim state in the Balkans, in Europe, in the heart of Europe, and that's why you have to stay in Bosnia. So I have to stay in Bosnia." And I say, "Fine, okay, but then stop attacking me. How do you expect me to stay while at the same time you keep stripping away everything from me? You take away 83 of my constitutional competencies. You take away the army. You impose a court on us. You take over the finances. You seize control of the intelligence services, of citizen identification, and so much more. And then you turn around and say you must stay. No, I don't have to. Why should I? They say you must go to Europe. We don't have to go to Europe. In fact, I believe one of the most important contributions to Europe itself is the way Trump has treated it. Perhaps now it will finally get healthy, grow up, become independent, recognize your own resources, and start building on them instead of constantly expecting America to guarantee your security so you can live comfortably while the US spends its taxpayers' money to guard your skies and ensure your safety and so on. Well, then pay for it. Trump is absolutely right about that. If you want it, then pay for it. And why is that a problem? Nobody gives anything away for free. Germany doesn't hand out Mercedes cars, as far as I know. Maybe they donate one here or there, but I seriously doubt they're giving out fleets of Mercedes vehicles for free, right? You pay for the product and that's it. If you want an American soldier to protect you, pay for it. If you don't, then there won't be an American soldier. What's the issue here? You're afraid of the Russians. Is that it? Afraid of which Russians? Do you really think that Trump, sorry, I mean Putin is someone who's interested in that? He doesn't care what he's fighting for in Ukraine, that is traditional Russia, that has been traditional Russia. So what's happening now? And that's the connection. And I'm really glad we're having this conversation right now. We're just talking about communism and that link with the leftists. Well, the borders of the former Soviet Union were drawn by the communists. It was who separated half of Russia and said, "This is now Ukraine." So, what is the West defending exactly? They're defending communist-drawn borders, aren't they? That's the logic. Which means that this globalist agenda is actually defending global communism. The very same communism that shaped Ukraine as a country. It was communist leaders, Lenin, for example, who once gave a part of Russian territory to Ukraine just to reduce Russia's strength. Crimea and the rest were traditionally Russian lands. Krisv took half of Russia, Luansk, Donesk, and other regions where war is now being fought, where 15 million Russians lived and handed them over to Ukraine. And now who is defending that? It's the globalists who are defending that communist creation. The globalists are the ones defending it. Biden and the rest. Isn't that so? Well, that's the truth. There is no other truth. Trump simply says, "Stop killing each other." And I believe in that.

>> I also know Putin personally, and I know he didn't want this. Not at all. Back in those years, I was in close contact with him. And I know just how much he didn't want a war because he sees Ukrainians and Russians as brothers. And he believed that if it ever came to a conflict, it would mark a historic rupture, one that could never be mended. But in the end, he couldn't abandon those 15 million Russians who were living there whose identity was clear. Keefe banned them from speaking Russian, from having their own church, and from many other things. On the other hand, there was the Minsk agreement reached between Trump, I mean Putin, Merkel, and Holland of France and Merkel. Imagine the cynicism admitted years later once the conflict in Ukraine had already begun that the Minsk agreement had never been intended for implementation. Its only purpose, she said, had been to buy time to arm Ukraine. Why do you deceive us? Why do you deceive us with the Dayton agreement? Why do you deceive Serbia with the Kumanova agreement? Why do you deceive Russia with the Minsk agreement? When will you stop deceiving and lying? Let's sit down and talk. These are real liars we're talking about. I live my life here. I'm glad you're here. And I would like you to take away the best impressions of these people in this region. But you're only here for a few days. I live here. My family lives here. My grandchildren live here. My ancestors live here. I want to fight for this because it is mine. This is my land. These are my people. This is my faith and I will stand up for it. I believe I'm right. The fact that some people don't like it, that's always been the case.

>> I know that we are out of time, but I do want to ask you one important question. Um,

>> Our time is yet to come. President Trump has said uh that the US should pursue uh charges, conspiracy charges against George Soros for his actions in the United States. I wonder how you view George Soros over here.

>> That's a criminal organization, a criminal mafia-like organization, a criminal enterprise. They've used legal instruments funded by American taxpayers to go after governments and leaderships around the world simply because they didn't suit them. So, it's no surprise they do the same in America. They invented the whole story about Russian interference in the first term. Now, we know it wasn't true. Now that everything has come to light, we all know it wasn't true, but they still used it. These are the same tactics of so-called color revolutions they've studied extensively. They're doing the same thing in Serbia today still and in other places as well. They tried it with me a few years ago and when that didn't work, now they're going after me in other ways. Likewise, we see Soros's support in the same light. He is a malevolent figure who should be banned. What he promotes is on par with a fascist organization and with Hitler. You see, and please highlight this because I haven't said it before. In the last 300 years of European civilization, ever since the principle was established that a king cannot enact laws without parliamentary oversight, not a single individual has unilaterally imposed laws on European soil, except Hitler. Hitler enacted laws by himself. And now in Bosnia, Schmidt is doing the same, also a German. It's no coincidence that he's German. This too is part of the Soros agenda. This whole narrative about NOS's. Suddenly you have people who are intellectually and otherwise neglected.

>> Open borders.

>> What open borders? Open for whom? To spread the same moral decay they've been funding. Respect children because that means respecting our future. Respect people. And I too believe in respecting others regardless of race, religion or nationality. But everyone must have what is theirs. And that must remain untouchable. America has been successful because it understood that had the Democrats won a second term, I believe America would never have recovered. I think internal conflicts would have erupted within the country itself. That's the whole point. During Biden's time, I often heard some Americans saying that a conflict between people could erupt there. Now, no one says that anymore. There is a clear and decisive effort by President Trump to remove illegal migrants and that's fine. Why should you live in my country without any documents? Why did you come here uninvited? And what is it you want now? To undermine our way of life? Why would you do that? Why don't you have a government of your own that can provide you with a decent life? Why did you come here? So that my cities and American cities become unsafe? So that children feel unsafe? That women feel unsafe, that men feel unsafe. Why should we put up with that? Why should America put up with that? It's not my fault that you were born somewhere where things aren't in order. Maybe we could help you, but stay there. You can come here, too, but respect what has been achieved. Don't destroy it. That's all.

>> Are you afraid of a a broader war, Islamic Christian war across Europe?

I don't think a conventional war will happen, at least not in the foreseeable future. But the creeping dominance of Islamists in Europe is a very real issue. I believe that in 20 years, most major cities, Munich, who knows, maybe even Paris and London already is there, will have local authorities led by Muslims. You know, they seem to think that's fine. I don't. Maybe it's part of people's aspirations, but I don't think it's okay. It simply shows that they are gradually taking over political dominance. And dominance, once they gain political dominance, I think only then will they truly understand our position. Only then will they begin to understand our position. There's a brilliant book by the French author, Submission. I think he captured that creeping Islamization of Western society better than anyone. I've read it, but I even intend to read it again to understand it more deeply.

>> Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. You've been very generous with your time. I know that we've gone way over, but I appreciate it very much, and um I I think the American, a lot of people in the US will uh appreciate hearing and understanding your point of view. um is very

>> much appreciated.

>> To meet you. Thank you. That's it for this episode of Going Rogue with Lara Logan. You know what to do. Like, share, subscribe. Get as many people as you can to pay attention um to this very important issue that is happening across the world which has great resonance here in the United States. I'm Laura Logan. Thank you as always for going [Music]