In the latest edition of BUKA TV podcast, Aleksandar TrifunoviÄ interviewed the ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to BiH Johanna Stromqvist. From the beginning of her mandate in BiH, she has been very active in addressing the issue of air pollution in our country.
The interview was recorded on Friday, 18.02.2022. godine, in the National Theater in Sarajevo.
BUKA: Since the beginning of your mandate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, you have been very active in raising awareness about air pollution in our country, so my first question to you is how do you breathe here, coming from a country with the cleanest air in Europe to a country with the lowest ranking in this respect? Did you get used to it?
STROMQVIST: It was actually my predecessor with the other colleageus at the Embassy who started with the work to raise awareness and to take concrete measure with our partners to reduce the air pollution. But I have continued with the work because I think it is important, not only for health reasons and people's general well-being but also for economic reasons. As we know when the smog is thick planes cannot land or take off and it is not a very good selling point for increased tourims.
As for getting used to breathing polluted air, we can choose to do something about the pollution and that is what Sweden has done.
You find the issue of air pollution important for our society, your government invests a lot of funds in BiH in addressing this and other issues. At the moment your Embassy is implementing a campaign „Let’s talk about air“. Can you tell us more about the campaign?
The Embassy of Sweden has been running the #LetsTalkAboutAir campaign for several years in early winter to raise awareness about air pollution. As people gradually realize how dangerous the air pollution is, we have started to focus more on what can be done to change the situation.
We do this by highlighting ongoing projects with our partners, by listening to expert and civil society actors, and by making sure that they get the chance to sit down directly with decision-makers to discuss concrete ways of addressing the problem of air pollution in BiH.
We also aim to do it by encouraging citizen engagement. In that way the campaign hopefully becomes both a call for action and an encouragement for people to help change the situation. We know that everybody has a role to play: politicians, private sector, civil society, and each and every individual. We all make daily choices that affect the air, and through that also our health.
Are citizens interested in hearing the truth about air quality? You installed huge lungs in the center of Sarajevo to illustrate the magnitude of the problem. Can the Swedish experience in the area of air quality management be a model that can be implemented here, or at least help us make a start in addressing this issue?
Air Pollution is globally one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change. Here is Bosnia and Herzegovina the World Balk has made and estimation that approximately 3,400 people die prematurely every year due to the air pollution.
Our perception is that people talk more and more about how the air pollution affects our health and that both the population and some politicians are being more engaged to change the current situation. But more needs to be done and that is why have this campaign with our partners and we hope that more organizations and citizens of BiH will engage.
We can all learn from each other. Many cities in Europe have struggled with air pollution and have been able to reduce it. It has been a process in Sweden as well, and since the 1990s we have reduced carbon dioxide emissions with 27 percent while having substantial economic growth, proving there is no need to give up prosperity in the fight against pollution. This could be the case here as well.
In Sweden, this change was made possible through the work of active citizens, as well as a green transformation driven by both political and private actors. We are happy to share experiences, knowledge and to support others in the same transition.
Air quality is both a political and social issue in our country. By adopting new policies that would require from people to invest in replacing the old furnaces or their facades, or from construction companies to invest more in energy efficent buildings, politicians are afraid they might lose popularity. Do you believe that the benefits of investing in green energy sources and more energy-efficient construction are much bigger in the long run?
First of all, the politcians role should be to make the right choices easy for citizes, I find it hard to believe that providing affordable enviromentaly friendly public transport, biking lanes, good pavemens and subsidizing new furnaces for heating of private homes and to save public funds and create new jobs by making public buildings energy efficeint would make any politicains lose popularity. I think the opposite that many people would appreciate that double win of clean air and better services.
As for private companies, there is no other way to go. There is a race in the world right now in the green transitions. The companies should strive to be the first in that race. Already now it is not profitable to build coal power plants intead of environmentally friendly solutions.
It’s been a year since our last interview. Since then, Bosnia and Herzegovina regressed, there was no moving forward. This has been noted in the report of the European Commission on BiH. Do you feel dissapointed with such development?
I think I said also last year that it is not for me to be disappointed. The ones who should be disappointed are the citizens of this country.
But of course I would also like to see more positive developments. I know it is possible and we are here to help to make it happen.
BiH is currently facing one of the largest crises since the Dayton Peace Agreement. What is your opinion about the obstruction of the work of the institutions at the BiH level? In what way has your Embassy been engaged in trying to help find a solution to this crisis?
The institutions not being able to work is having a negative impact on all areas of society. It hinders reforms and the functionality of the state and the ones that suffer the consequences are the people who lose hope.
Sweden is a member of the EU, and we work within the EU supporting the efforts by the EU-institutions with others, most importantly the US, to facilitate a solution to the current political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ann Linde, was also here late last year to encourage dialogue and a return to the institutions, in her capacity as the chairperson in office of the OSCE. In the end, however, there is a need for local ownership, and for the political parties to reach compromises for the betterment of the people of this country.
In your opinion, will the crisis in Ukraine affect our country and in what way? Will the international community shift its focus away from BiH? (Note: The interview was recorded on 18.02.2022. godine, a week before the Russian attack on Ukraine.)
The situation Ukraine is facing already affects us all. Threats against the sovereignity of Ukraine does not just threaten one country, but the security of Europe as a whole.
The right for each country to make its own security policy choices is central to the European security order.
In times like this it becomes extremely clear how important cooperation in Europe is. If anything, I hope that the crisis in Ukraine will increase the focus on even closer cooperation in Europe based on common values and agreements.
That includes a continued work to strengthen the cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EU.
Where do you see the exit from this crisis? This is election year and it is not certain if the election will take place at all. With so much uncertainty and constant tensions, more and more people, who are young and capable, are leaving the country. How can we stop such a devastating trend of the permanent crisis, and permanent migration?
The way out of this crisis is by the elected politicians in this country talking to each other, engaging constructively and making compromises to find solutions.
Hopefully the politicians will conclude the ongoing constitutional and electoral talks with a positive outcome, which will enable the 2022 general elections to be held within an improved framework. Otherwise, they will be held under the same legislative framework under which the 2018 general elections were held. There is no legal basis for postponing them.
From my perspective, the way to make young people stay is to take the support that is offered from the EU and others to make the necessary changes and reforms that will benefit the people. That is the way to change the trend of people leaving.
They are leaving for EU countries because that is how they want to live. If they would be able to live that kind of life here, I am sure they would stay.
In what way can the community of our people living in Sweden contribute to the development of BiH?
First of all, the Bosnian diaspora is extremely well integrated into the Swedish society and are present in all spheres of society. From high-level politicians to international football players and everything inbetween, such as successful entrepreneurs and businessmen and women, journalists and filmmakers. So they are well placed to make contrubitions to developments here.
Many of them are already helping Bosnia and Herzegovina by investing and opening companies and creating new job. Especially in the IT-sector. There are at least five of them here that I can think of right now (System verification, Softhouse, Valter, Reinvent, DVC Solutions, Ministry of Programming) . But also production of shoes, children's clothes and zink components for cars etc. are produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Swedish or Swedish-Bosnian companies due to the diaspora.
There are also Bosnian-Swedes working in our state institutions that participate in development cooperation projects when we support institutions here and they are a great bridge since they speak both languages and understand both cultures.
I know that many in the Bosnian dispora in Sweden is following very cloesely what is happening and right now many of them are worried about the developments.
You have been helping BiH a lot, both in the Federation and the RS, you are not giving up on us. What will be your focus in the coming period? Your government has recently adopted a new strategy realted to your support to this part of Europe. What does that mean specifically for BiH and what period is covered by your strategy?
All the support Sweden is giving is to the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina to support your EU-integration. The new strategy recently adopted by the Swedish government for the Western Balkans covers the period from 2021 to 2027. The seven year long projection is proof of the commitment of the Swedish government to stand by the Western Balkans and support this region to improve citizens’ lives in line with EU harmonization.
Like the previous strategy, this one is focusing on the rule of law, democracy, human rights, anti-corruption, media-freedom, gender equality, economic development and environment and climate.
To this has been added a new area which is support to peaceful and inclusive socieities. This can mean different things in different countries and we are currently looking into what Sweden can do within this area in BiH. Other areas that are highlighted in the new strategy are employment and decent working conditions and the fight against organised crime. All these areas we try to work on a strategic level to support necessary legislation and policy as the framework. Then we support buidling up capacity and provide equipment and support concrete projects. But we also support civil society.
If we have good partners to work with that are ready to move forward and do the necessary reforms for EU-integration, then we will probably stay at the same level of contribution as now with 20 million euro per year in Bosnia and Herzegoivna. If we see that there is no possibility to invest the tax payers' money in a good way it will probably be less.
There is a lot of pessimism these days, where do you see optimism and hope that we can do better than this as a society?
I see the hope in the many people I meet that want change and who are ready to work for it. It is an honour to represent a country that is ready to support those who want to create that change in order to create a safer and more prosperous Europe for all of us to live in together.