Speeches by Milorad Dodik and the Creation of a New Mythomaniacal Consciousness!

By: Sifet Kukuruz

When Milorad Dodik, in ecstasy, claims that the entity of Republika Srpska has international sovereignty, justifying it by the fact that according to the BiH Constitution, entities have the right to special and parallel relations with neighboring countries, and Republika Srpska has established such relations with the Republic of Serbia, while it can also have them with other neighboring countries and international organizations, he overlooks the fact that entities can establish special parallel relations exclusively due to the will of the state of BiH and its Constitution.

The BiH Constitution, not the entity constitutions, is the source of the entities' right to establish special parallel relations with neighboring countries. The establishment of such relations would not be possible at all if the state of BiH had not approved them with its Constitution.
At the same time, Dodik neglects that the essential limitation regarding the establishment of these special parallel relations is the obligation that they must be in accordance with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state of BiH. Therefore, such relations are legally possible only under precisely defined conditions by the BiH Constitution (and not by the constitution of an entity or a neighboring country).

The determination of compliance and verification of the fulfillment of these conditions is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state body, i.e., the Constitutional Court of BiH, and not the entity bodies or the bodies of a neighboring country. This means that only the state of BiH has the right to verify the compliance of special parallel relations with the BiH Constitution and, based on that, if it determines that they are contrary to its Constitution, to prevent their validity and application.

Neither the entity of Republika Srpska nor the state of Serbia can decide on the compliance of special parallel relations with the BiH Constitution. Dodik should know that sovereign power is not subject to legal control and legal limitations of some other authority superior to it.

However, Article III/2. a) of the BiH Constitution establishes the "order of magnitude" regarding the establishment of special parallel relations by clearly and precisely establishing the subordination of the entity's will to the BiH Constitution. Thus, the will expressed within the entity's jurisdiction must be subordinate to the will expressed in the BiH Constitution.

Furthermore, Dodik should also know that the preamble of the BiH Constitution explicitly states the commitment of the Constitution's drafters, among other things, to the sovereignty of the state of BiH, and not at all to the entities. The commitment to the sovereignty of the state of BiH expressed in the Constitution obliges the entities to respect such a commitment.

The sovereign power of the state of BiH excludes the possibility of the existence of another sovereign power on the state territory, given that it is legally impossible for two sovereign powers to exist simultaneously on one state territory.
Furthermore, Dodik should also know that the establishment of special parallel relations of entities with neighboring countries does not mean that the peoples living in BiH, or its entities, are establishing special parallel relations.

Entities equally belong to all citizens and peoples living in the entity. Therefore, the establishment of special parallel relations must be aimed at satisfying their needs and interests, without discrimination on any basis.

It is evident that Dodik ignores the fact that the BiH Constitution, by establishing special parallel relations, implies the establishment of relations between entities and neighboring countries, not the establishment of relations between one of the peoples living in the entity of Republika Srpska and a neighboring country.

Special parallel relations that have been established so far, and which may have been established with the aim of satisfying and respecting the needs of only one people, can be challenged by the Constitutional Court of BiH, which prohibits any form of discrimination against its citizens and peoples.

With his expressed lack of understanding, Dodik only confirms that he has remained "frozen in time" and committed to war aims that involved the establishment of ethnically pure territories of the state of BiH and their annexation to a neighboring country.
This could not be achieved by force in war, and it certainly cannot be achieved in peace.

Dodik should know that by the Dayton Peace Agreement, Serbia and BiH recognized each other as sovereign independent states within their internationally recognized borders (Article 10 of the Agreement), which means that Serbia has an international legal obligation to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH in its relations with BiH or its entities, as structures resulting from the modification of the internal organization of the state of BiH.

It is clear that in his statements, Dodik constantly feigns the legal capacity of the entity of Republika Srpska, which that entity does not have according to the BiH Constitution, including in relation to the relations of the entity of Republika Srpska with Serbia.

It is strange that he does not consider how such statements harm only Serbia, which, according to the Dayton Peace Agreement, has an obligation to respect the sovereignty of the state of BiH. If Dodik claims that special parallel relations have a character that they cannot and must not have according to the BiH Constitution, then he only proves that Serbia has entered into relations with the entity of Republika Srpska that are not in compliance with its international legal obligations.

Although Serbia is not ready to admit it itself, Milorad Dodik clearly is. Such claims by him could initiate the question of determining Serbia's legal responsibility for potentially violating the sovereignty of the state of BiH.

When it comes to claims that entities can conclude agreements with states and international organizations with the consent of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, it again follows that the BiH Constitution makes such agreements dependent on state, not entity, will. In this case as well, prior approval from the state body is required for the conclusion of such agreements. It is completely irrelevant whether this approval will be given in each specific case or by adopting a special law.

What is important to note in the establishment of special parallel relations of entities with neighboring countries and the conclusion of agreements by entities with other states and international organizations is the fact that the BiH Constitution, only in the first case, explicitly emphasizes that it must be "in accordance with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina."

Of course, this is not accidental at all.

This only confirms that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state of BiH, before the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, i.e., the adoption of the BiH Constitution, were threatened precisely by the actions of these neighboring states.

It is precisely for this reason that it was necessary to specifically emphasize in the BiH Constitution that neighboring states are obliged in the future to respect and not threaten what they previously did not respect and threatened, namely the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state of BiH.

Furthermore, it is also necessary to point out another limitation that entities are obliged to respect when establishing special parallel relations with neighboring countries or when concluding agreements with other states and international organizations. Namely, entities can only establish such relations in matters that fall within the competence of the entities.

The subject of these relations and agreements cannot and must not be matters that fall within the competence of the state of BiH. The claims by Milorad Dodik that the state of BiH, according to its Constitution, has limited internal sovereignty and only 10 exhaustively listed competencies are incorrect.

By analyzing the text of the BiH Constitution, it is very easy, but also completely precise, to determine the existence of numerous competencies of BiH institutions. It is particularly important to emphasize that these are so-called exclusive competencies of the state of BiH.

These exclusive competencies are listed in other articles of the BiH Constitution, not just in Article III/1 of the BiH Constitution, as Dodik imagines.

For your information, in addition to the 10 exhaustively listed competencies from Article III/1 of the BiH Constitution, the state of BiH has at least 36 more exclusive competencies, but this is a topic that deserves special elaboration.

For the purpose of this review, and considering Milorad Dodik's preoccupation with the Constitutional Court of BiH, it is sufficient to point out the fact that Article III/1 of the BiH Constitution does not list the competence and right of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly to regulate, by special law, the issue of the future election of three judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH appointed by the President of the European Court of Human Rights in a different way.
It is interesting that this competence of the state of BiH, which does not fall within "Dodik's 10 competencies," is not disputed even by Milorad Dodik himself, although he wishes to subordinate it to his political appetites.

Regarding Dodik's claims that the international sovereignty of Republika Srpska is confirmed by the fact that this entity has been sending its reports to the United Nations Security Council for 15 years, which the Constitutional Court of BiH has confirmed as its right, it is interesting to note the contradictions in which Milorad Dodik himself falls, as he today refers to the Constitutional Court of BiH, which he allegedly did not recognize yesterday, and will not recognize it tomorrow.

As for the reports that Republika Srpska submits to the UN Security Council, the Constitutional Court of BiH has determined in its decisions that "there is nothing in these reports that could be considered foreign policy," which means that such reports in no way confirm the status of statehood or the international subjectivity of the entity of Republika Srpska.

Let's repeat.

Only the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a state, and the entities were created in 1995 as a result of the modification of the internal organization of the state of BiH.

Entities exist and can exist exclusively on the basis of the BiH Constitution. The condition for the existence of the state of BiH is contained in the will of all its citizens and peoples. The condition for the creation and survival of entities is the state of BiH as a sovereign state.

Any attempt by an entity to destroy the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence, and international subjectivity of the state of BiH can only end in the self-destruction of the entity.