The former Social Democratic Party (SDP) Leader told N1’s Amir Zukic that the outgoing Republika Srpska (RS) entity President Milorad Dodik’s lobbying in the US for this entity often backfires in Dodik’s face.

“Not wanting to sound cynical, but this often backfires straight in his face,” Zlatko Lagumdzija said. “As it turns out, lobbying for a good cause can achieve many things. Dodik has a bad product backed by serious funds and people.”

He added that to be a successful lobbyist one must have a top product, not top marketing. Lobbying alone can achieve nothing serious.

Speaking of his current engagement in the world, Lagumdzija said for N1 that he participated in different meetings attended by various politicians and that he always saw his engagements in such meetings as a “fight for his country.”

“Bosnia and Herzegovina is definitely a good lobbying material. While I was Bosnia’s Foreign Minister I often lobbied for Bosnia, but in the past four years I lobbied without a single cent from the state budget,” Lagumdzija said. “I travelled a lot and held lectures at many respectable institutions in that sense.”

He also touched upon his political career, saying that in the past four years, he has not been active in Bosnia's political scene.

“I led the party that lost the election, and I recognised that. After that, I resigned. Back then Dodik and (the outgoing Croat Presidency member) Dragan Covic were a lot bigger Bosnians than they are now,” he noted.

He said his biggest mistakes were that he trusted people more than they deserved and that he took responsibility for the things he did not do.