Will Bosniak and Croat leaders react: Through the RS Law on Forests, independence can be declared

If the constitutionality of the Law on Forests in Republika Srpska is not urgently challenged before the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this BiH entity will have the full capacity to declare independence.  

- It will be the end of the war started against Bosnia and Herzegovina, warns Muharem Cero, an expert on state property, in an interview with the Patria news agency.

In 2008, the authorities in Republika Srpska adopted the Law on Forests of RS. This law stipulated that the forests of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the territory of Republika Srpska, should be registered as the property of Republika Srpska, not as forests owned by the state. Practically, with the Law on Forests of RS, the continuity of Bosnia and Herzegovina ceased. State property is being dismantled.

None of the Bosniak representatives from that period reacted to the adoption of such a law, although it is a gross violation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. This raises many suspicions.

- Dayton states that BiH is an integral and sovereign state. But, with the solutions we have in RS, BiH ceases to be an integral whole. Inter-entity lines are becoming hard land registry borders – says Cero.

With the Law on Forests, Republika Srpska has gained territorial integrity, similar to a state. RS has executive power, it has legislation, it has citizenship... it doesn't need much more to be able to declare independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- By adopting the Law on Forests of RS, although it is a gross violation of Dayton, the authorities there want to gain ownership of the territory. This means that RS will come into a position where it is only a quarter of a step away from secession. There is no territory in the world that has the capacity to secede and not be allowed to do so – warns Cero.

- Kosovo had less capacity when it declared independence from Serbia. BiH also had less capacity when it seceded from Yugoslavia, and yet it is an internationally recognized country – Cero reminds.

This expert on state property reminds that it is not too late for an appeal. The right to appeal does not expire.

An appeal to the Constitutional Court of BiH on the Law on Forests in RS can be filed by a member of the Presidency of BiH, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, the Chairman or his deputy of any chamber of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. An appeal can also be filed by one-fourth of the members of the delegates of any chamber of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH or one-fourth of any chamber of the legislative body of the entity, writes Patria.