ČOVIĆ'S JUSTIFICATION: He wrote to foreigners: I am not a denier of genocide

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Chairman of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dragan Čović, sent a letter to several addresses of international institutions in which he emphasizes that Bosnia and Herzegovina is today in the greatest crisis in its post-Dayton history and explains some actions of Croatian political representatives in the past period, as well as their background.

"While working on reaching a necessary agreement on amendments to the Election Law, which would improve the climate of trust and remove all inequalities and discrimination, implement the rulings of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the European Court of Human Rights, and create preconditions for democratic stabilization and progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I feel obliged, taking into account the importance of our international partners in the process of finding a European solution within BiH, to point out and warn about the alarming and unfounded recent attempt to grossly discredit the Croatian delegates in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. It saddens me that such behavior is happening precisely now when we should, more strongly than ever, be focused on a joint step forward that is of vital importance for the further democratization of relations and the Euro-Atlantic perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina," states Čović in the letter.

The expressed distrust among the political representatives of the three constituent peoples, warns Čović, causes an alarming stalemate in the functioning of BiH and regression in the implementation of necessary reforms. Currently, the functioning of BiH institutions is not taking place at their full constitutional and legal capacity. The reason for this, he adds, is the rejection and non-recognition of the imposed decision of the former High Representative on amendments to the Criminal Law by representatives of the Serbian people.

"With respect for all prescribed institutional procedures, mechanisms and actors, and in the pursuit of finding solutions that will once again gather all three constituent peoples into an institutional state dialogue, representatives of the Croatian people expressed readiness for cooperation and overcoming existing challenges. Accepting the initiative that was addressed to me, among others, by representatives of the international community, I tried to play the role of mediator in an attempt to return Serbian representatives to the institutions. In this way, I want to emphasize that this was not about destroying or denying the content of the said decision, but about taking responsibility for the continuation of the uninterrupted functioning of BiH institutions, in accordance with constitutional and legal procedures and competencies. Given the above, this meant that the same amendments to the Law should be adopted in domestic institutions, the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, which would substitute the imposed decision of the former High Representative," states Čović.

Despite the potential of such a step, which, he adds, assumed the adoption of a substantively identical legal solution in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, it was "maliciously portrayed as a denial, or an attempt to deny, war crimes and genocide."

"In my long political life, this certainly represents the crudest attempt at discreditation, which I, as a representative of the Croatian people who personally bowed to those same victims on multiple occasions, consider scandalous. Playing with the pain, suffering and grief of those who experienced and survived the greatest life tragedies in the not-so-distant past is not, and must not become, a political instrument. Finally, I take this opportunity to once again thank you for your wholehearted support and commitment that you provide to the European perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina and personally ask that with your political influence you help all of us in BiH in finding internal solutions and encourage and stimulate the much-needed dialogue. This is a historic moment for BiH and we need your help," concludes Čović in the letter, which, among others, was sent to the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), numerous European institutions, and officials of the USA and the European Union.