Bećirović: OHR must react to Dodik's behavior

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Denis Bećirović, delegate in the House of Peoples today proposed an amendment to the Constitution, suggesting that the BiH Constitutional Court have six foreign judges instead of three. The proposal was rejected, and he explained it as a legitimate reaction and response to the behavior of Milorad Dodik, member of the Presidency of BiH.

“Dodik can hang all his brutal blackmail attempts. It is completely legitimate that, if you have a member of the Presidency of BiH who is undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement and not respecting the binding decisions of the Constitutional Court, you offer some proposals in a corresponding manner, in accordance with the rules of procedure.

This morning, I submitted a proposal to amend the Constitution of BiH, which will enable the President of the European Court of Human Rights to propose six members of the Constitutional Court instead of three, so that the overall system of BiH is aligned with the European legal heritage as quickly and effectively as possible,” said Bećirović.

Responding to the statement that the other side does not want this and that it does not lead to dialogue, Bećirović says:

“In BiH, we have two political groups. One is the one that sees the future in Euro-Atlantic integration, and the others are those that are dragging us into Russian-Asian integration. We should focus exclusively on membership in NATO and the EU. If someone wants to push something through, outside the Constitution and Dayton, and with brutal pressure, what is enshrined in the Constitution of BiH, it is completely legitimate for you to also propose an addition to the Constitutional Court in a decent manner and with much stronger arguments, so that we truly move towards full membership in the EU as soon as possible. Dialogue can only be conducted within the state bodies of BiH, here in the BiH Parliament,” Bećirović was clear.

Speaking about who should react in such cases of non-compliance with the decisions of the BiH Constitutional Court, Bećirović also called on the Prosecutor's Office to act.

“I expect a very clear reaction from the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and the OHR. The OHR is an integral part of the Dayton Peace Agreement. When the Dayton Peace Agreement was concluded, the institution of the OHR was not introduced by chance. It must react, and given how Dodik is behaving, that will probably happen,” added Bećirović.