Bećirović against Schmidt's announced decisions: Cementing ethnic divisions among BiH citizens

(Patria) - BiH Presidency member Denis Bećirović commented on the announcements of potential imposition of new amendments to the Constitution of the FBiH entity and the Election Law of BiH by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He expressed his opposition to the proposed amendments to the FBiH Constitution which would result in the additional supremacy of the ethnic principle over the civic principle, thereby significantly hindering Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path. He assessed that the announced constitutional-normative solutions would weaken Bosnian society and the state.

Potential amendments to the FBiH Constitution providing for the introduction of a veto right, which would be "supported" by the support of a 2/3 majority of delegates of a specific ethnicity from the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament and the support of a majority of deputies from one of the three most numerous ethnic cantons, depending on which ethnicity it is, are contrary to the fundamental European values on which the European Union and its member states are based.

The European Court of Human Rights, in the Pilav case, explicitly ruled that "the combination of ethnic origin and place of residence constitutes discriminatory treatment that violates Article 1 of Protocol 12" of the European Convention. This approach would further deepen discrimination against Others and citizens who refuse to declare their ethnicity, which is in direct contradiction with the practice of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the court in Strasbourg.

Therefore, one-off interventions by the High Representative that would fulfill current political desires and affect ethnic homogenization and deepen mistrust in representatives of the international community and their bias towards nationalist-oriented politicians are unacceptable.

BiH Presidency member Denis Bećirović stated that the potential imposition of discriminatory constitutional solutions would: First, cement ethnic divisions among Bosnian citizens. Second, exclusive representatives of a certain ethnicity coming from privileged parts of the FBiH entity would gain additional political votes.

Third, ethnically dominant cantons would be institutionally strengthened, which would ultimately lead to new ethnic divisions and the strengthening of separatist tendencies. Fourth, by regulating the veto right in the manner foreseen, a system of unequal opportunities would be institutionalized, further discriminating against citizens of the FBiH entity. All of this would further strengthen mono-ethnic parties, while the institutional incentive for promoting civic and multi-ethnic ideas in other political parties would be reduced to a minimum, and in some cantons, it would disappear completely.

This is contrary to the centuries-long experience of living together in multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bearing in mind the competencies of the FBiH entity, BiH Presidency member Denis Bećirović emphasized that it is unacceptable for lower administrative-territorial units - cantons, or some of them, to have a decisive role in the election of the FBiH entity government. The introduction of "super-cantons" into the constitutional-legal system of the FBiH entity would be disastrous and serve the purpose of ethnicization and further fragmentation of the state, which is ultimately contrary to both the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Constitution of BiH.

This approach, moreover, significantly deviates from the Washington Agreement, which itself, at the height of the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, did not result in such a dominance of the ethnic over the civic. Pacta sunt servanda, or agreements must be respected, is one of the fundamental principles of international law. If the protagonists of ethnic divisions did not manage to achieve the outlines of an ethno-territorial organization of the Federation of BiH during the aggression, the High Representative has no international legal legitimacy to deliver it by decree almost 30 years later. The current High Representative should, as soon as possible, correct the mistakes he made on 2.10.2023, and help build European democratic standards in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In a country that became a candidate for full membership in the European Union on 15.12.2023, there is no longer room for discriminatory and anti-European solutions.

Bećirović stated that he will continue to advocate for the advancement of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and that he will take care of the interests and equality of all citizens and peoples. Therefore, any solution that further reduces the (active) voting rights of citizens of the FBiH entity, regardless of which ethnicity they (do not) belong to, is unacceptable.