Irvin Pekmez

When Russia cut the flow of gas for a few days in 2009 due to a dispute with Ukraine, tens of thousands of households in Bosnia and Herzegovina were left without heating during that cold winter. Thirteen years later, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price of gas has gone up and people using gas for heating are worried if there will even be enough of it. While European Union countries have stored enough gas for the upcoming winter, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still exclusively dependent on gas deliveries from Russia. In this programme, we’ll be analysing what the authorities have failed to do, but also what can still be done in order for Bosnia to end the Russian monopoly over its gas imports.

Western European and NATO countries are expressing growing concern about Russian influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the country enters a pre-election period. A meeting that’s been announced between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik is being perceived in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a direct support for the leader of the ruling party in Republika Srpska to win the elections. Over the past decade Putin’s regime has also developed a number of methods to influence the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this episode we’ll analyse how the Russian authorities have influenced elections throughout Europe and if there is a real concern that a similar thing could also happen in our country – particularly now, after the invasion of Ukraine, when the Balkans have been identified as one of the key locations in danger from Russian influence.