Bećirović: Protocol between Croatia and RS has the same value as an agreement between BiH and Istria County

Administrative-territorial units within the sovereign, independent, and indivisible state of Bosnia and Herzegovina do not have the status of subjects in international relations, and therefore it is an extremely unfriendly move by neighboring Republic of Croatia, which is attempting to undermine the sovereignty of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina by signing a Protocol on cooperation in the implementation of the project "Natural Gas Supply to the End Customer - Brod Oil Refinery" with the smaller BiH entity, the RS, believes the Vice-President of the Social Democratic Party of BiH and Member of Parliament Denis Bećirović.

- The value of this agreement in international law is equal to the value of an agreement that the state of BiH would eventually conclude with, for example, Istria County. Croatia and BiH have been members of the United Nations since 1992. Therefore, as a Member of Parliament of BiH, I publicly call on the competent authorities in Croatia not to violate the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States, which is in accordance with the UN Charter. It contains, among other things, principles of general international law that bind all states of the world, including Croatia and BiH.

One of the most important principles in this Declaration is the principle of sovereign equality of states and the principle of legal equality of all states. All sovereign states are legally equal. The legal equality of UN member states stems from the state's status as sovereign and a subject of international law.

Due to such a malevolent and ignorant attitude of the Croatian authorities towards the state of BiH, the public in our country, as well as abroad, has the right and obligation to seek the truth about all the details and promises made by the President of the Republic of Croatia to the President of Russia Vladimir Putin during her recent visit to Russia. The public must know what political, economic, and other promises were made to Russian partners by President Grabar-Kitarović.

Therefore, I publicly ask the competent authorities of Croatia whether the Protocol on cooperation in the implementation of this project is an expression of ignorance of international law or one of a series of promises that must be delivered to Russia?

The competent authorities in Croatia must know that in the state of BiH, representatives of entity authorities can conclude agreements with states and international organizations exclusively with the consent of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, which was not given in the case of this agreement with Croatia.

This is a gross anti-Dayton, unconstitutional, and illegal action by the Republic of Croatia, because BiH entities can conclude agreements with states and international organizations only with the consent of the highest legislative body, i.e., the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. There is no consent from the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH here. Therefore, the concluded agreement is a completely null and void agreement and cannot produce legal effects because there is no consent from the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.

If the authorities of the Republic of Croatia do not withdraw such an anti-Dayton and unconstitutional agreement with the BiH entity RS in the shortest possible time, I believe that serious consideration should be given to holding special sessions of the BiH Parliament and the BiH Presidency, as well as to involving the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is responsible for the consistent implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement - states Bećirović.