Bećirović: OHR is an integral and unavoidable part of the Dayton Peace Agreement

(Patria) - Regarding the statements of certain politicians about relocating the Office of the High Representative after the opening of the negotiation process, BiH Presidency member Denis Bećirović stated that they have no basis in the Dayton Peace Agreement.

"These are irresponsible and anti-Dayton messages with unforeseeably dangerous consequences for peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region. The Dayton Peace Agreement is not a buffet from which some politicians can take what they want and reject what they don't want. It is an international agreement that must be respected in its entirety.

I call on politicians who talk about closing the OHR to start telling their political allies that it is time to close and abandon anti-Dayton, anti-constitutional, and secessionist policies.

The Euro-Atlantic integration path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, among other things, should result in the political, economic, and institutional stabilization of BiH society and the state, and the development of civil society. By opening negotiations with the European Union (EU), the process of democratization of Bosnia and Herzegovina is strengthened. Therefore, negotiation processes should result in the stabilization and strengthening of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the national and international level.

To close the Office of the High Representative in BiH, it is not enough to 'start negotiations'; it is necessary to fulfill the previously established requirements, i.e., it is necessary to implement the so-called '5+2 Agenda'. By starting the negotiation process with the EU, Bosnia and Herzegovina has not automatically fulfilled all previously accepted requirements contained in the '5+2 Agenda', which are necessary for closing the Office of the High Representative. Therefore, any action contrary to the previously accepted '5+2 Agenda' represents a departure from the principle of legal security, thereby destabilizing Bosnian-Herzegovinian society and the state.

Attempts to challenge and undermine the institution of the High Representative, as well as the Constitutional Court of BiH, are part of a meticulously designed plan whose ultimate goal is the removal of all institutions responsible for preserving peace, independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only when the previously defined conditions necessary for the relocation, i.e., closure, of the OHR are met, and when the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board positively assesses the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, based on full respect for the Dayton Peace Agreement and the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, can we talk about closing the OHR office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bećirović stated.

Incidentally, Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović made statements on this topic yesterday in Vienna. Nermin Nikšić also stayed in Vienna but did not comment on such statements by the leaders of SNSD and HDZ.