Bećirović: Dangerous attacks on the essence of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the BiH Constitution must not be silenced

(Patria) - Delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Denis Bećirović, following the decision by RS representatives today to block work in BiH institutions and statements by a member of the BiH Presidency Milorad Dodik, wrote a detailed response which we are transmitting in its entirety. 

"Member of the BiH Presidency and SNSD president Milorad Dodik has been persistently repeating the unfounded and senseless thesis in recent days that the latest decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH is a 'coup d'état, as it represents an attack on the territorial organization according to which Republika Srpska is allocated 49% and the Federation of BiH 51% of the territory. (...) The constitutional basis for the latest decision of the Constitutional Court is completely unacceptable, therefore it is necessary for the institutions of Republika Srpska to undertake all necessary activities to protect the Dayton structure."

Such dangerous attacks on the essence of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the BiH Constitution must not be silenced.

Enough lies, deception, and undermining of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina!

It is time for Dodik and his masterminds from Belgrade to forget the criminal Milošević concept of creating a para-state on the territory of the internationally recognized state of Bosnia and Herzegovina!

It is time to draw Dodik and separatist elements' attention, among other things, to the following six (6) facts:

1. The Constitutional Court of BiH has made a final and binding legal opinion: the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the successor to the state property of (S)RBiH, and property that belonged to the former SFRY. Therefore, the property belongs to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not the entities. It is the exclusive jurisdiction of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina to regulate all matters related to this property within state bodies. Only decisions of state bodies are legally binding on the territory of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and entities, as well as lower levels of government, must fully respect them. Disrespecting state bodies and state decisions is a path to the disappearance of entities.

2. State property is an integral part of the constitutional features and competencies of every state, including the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. State property is an essential element for a state to be truly sovereign, not just formally. Accordingly, it is quite normal and a right based on the BiH Constitution for the state to regulate the issue of state property. There is no state of Bosnia and Herzegovina without the state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and therefore this issue has exceptional significance and value for the preservation and development of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

3. The Constitutional Court of BiH, among other things, emphasized that the BiH Constitution is the supreme legal act and that the entire legal system must be in accordance with the BiH Constitution. Also, in accordance with the BiH Constitution, the positions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, as well as official positions of constitutional law science, state property reflects statehood, sovereignty, and territorial integrity that belongs exclusively to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

4. It is unacceptable for separatist and anti-Dayton political centers of power to exert political pressure on the Constitutional Court of BiH. The Constitutional Court makes final and binding decisions, and there is no discussion or bargaining about them. It is very important that the Constitutional Court of BiH continues to work in accordance with "European standards", and not in accordance with the standards of Balkan protagonists of Greater Serbia.

5. State property does not include only a set of real estate. State property of Bosnia and Herzegovina also includes "public goods" (natural resources, public transport network, transport infrastructure, sea water, seabed, river water, riverbeds, lakes, mountains...). These are legal facts contained in final and binding court judgments about which there is no negotiation.

6. Dodik's mentors from Belgrade must finally understand and accept the international, legal, historical, and political fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a state and that no other state will be created on its state territory. Bosnia and Herzegovina has all the prerogatives of an independent and sovereign state, including state property in full capacity.

Long live the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina forever," Bećirović stated.