The newly elected Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency said that, as soon as he takes over the office, he will appoint renown filmmaker Emir Kusturica as his advisor.

Kusturica also praised Dodik on Tuesday, saying he acts like the “best forward (in football)” in the world.

It will soon become clear that “Dodik is not such a problem as foreigners present him to be,” the filmmaker said.

In an interview with ‘Vecernje Novosti’, he compared Dodik to a player in a football game who manages to score a goal although everyone is guarding him, saying the Bosnian Serb leader is “unstoppable.”

He also said Dodik has incredible energy, exemplifying this with an occasion when the Bosnian Serb leader started singing a song at an event.

“All the flowers in the flower pots and on the terrace began shaking, and so did a tree,” Kusturica said.

He said that Dodik repeatedly speaks about the truth in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in this way making it accessible to everyone on a daily basis.

“He turned Banja Luka from a village into a city, which has all the simptoms of a European centre, including a suburb. Apart from some 100 kilometres of highway, hospitals and schools, he also decisively influenced the creation of Andricgrad (a town in Bosnia’s east, near Visegrad) as a centre for culture and science,” he said.

‘Vecernje Novosti’ reported on Tuesday that Dodik said that apart from naming Kusturica as an advisor, he will also initiate changes to the rules within the Presidency and push for the placement of a flag of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated semi-autonomous entity, Republika Srpska (RS), in the Presidency building.

He said that his base office as Presidency member will be in Eastern Sarajevo, the part of the city that ended up within Republika Srpska following the 1992-1995 war, and that he will tend to his responsibilities from there.

“We will see what will happen when there are meetings in the Presidency. If there is no RS flag set up in the Presidency building, we will have meetings via video link,” Dodik said.

He also repeated that he will oppose Bosnia’s NATO membership, but that he will suggest to the other Presidency members to ask for Bosnia to get EU candidate status despite the situation within the country, as it would “stabilise the situation regarding many issues.”

“This is a chance for the EU to show that they are advocating for Bosnia to become part of the EU. This should be viewed as a petition, not as blackmail,” he said.

He also touched upon Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic congratulating him after he won the Presidency seat.

“I am glad that Bosnia and Serbia are improving their relations. Bosnia is not Sarajevo and this needs to be clear to everyone. In the same way, Bosnia is not only one member of its Presidency,” he said.

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