State Property in BiH and the CSM in Kosovo as Main Tools for a Frozen Conflict: 'Serbian World' is Not a Spiritual but a Territorial Connection!

By Amina Čorbo-Zećo

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A frozen conflict is a situation where a war conflict has ended, but neither a peace agreement nor any other political framework has led to a resolution of the conflict to the satisfaction of the conflicting parties - this is a textbook definition.

Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, is doing exactly that in Bosnia and Herzegovina by insisting on the state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina. An overwhelming demand that seriously violates the sovereignty of BiH and which he is aware cannot be fulfilled, but he insists on it and is leading Bosnia and Herzegovina deeper and deeper into a frozen conflict.

Aleksandar Vučić is doing the same in Kosovo by inventing some association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, which also aims to maintain a frozen conflict. The conclusion is clear: the 'Serbian world' is not some spiritual connection, but a territorial one, reflecting Serbia's hegemonic goals.

And precisely in the fact that the US functions best in countries with frozen conflicts, it is clear why there is no more decisive fight against Dodik's daily secessionist moves and statements. He has neither the strength nor the support for war, and in a frozen conflict, he can pursue policies peacefully, which will ultimately turn BiH into a state community. He will achieve the goal he dreams of, guided by dangerous advice from Serbia!

And state property will ensure eternal ice for him!

Today, he will again repeat, 'RS will not be in BiH where its property is being seized.' 'Its seizure would mean the end of both it and the Serbian people in these areas,' says the President of Republika Srpska.

This will not happen, says Milorad Dodik, because the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH are unconstitutional.

He can do anything, everything passes him by, while being on the US black list has no consequences for him. Christian Schmidt, the High Representative in BiH, from the already iconic 'I will soon do something about state property,' has reached playing ping pong with the Constitutional Court of BiH. He suspends laws that RS adopts, and then shifts responsibility to the Constitutional Court, which also issues a temporary measure, but there is no final decision on the merits of the matter.

The National Assembly of RS is already announcing the adoption of identical laws, of course, with minor changes so they don't look identical, and then we will enter the vicious circle of law-Schmidt-Constitutional Court again. And who knows how many rounds await us.

All of this deepens the frozen conflict, while waiting for the BiH Parliament (which is impossible to agree on with SNSD) to resolve the issue of disposal and registration of state property.

Schmidt has degraded his credibility by imposing fascist changes to the Election Law of BiH and the Constitution of FBiH. And he has completely nullified it by turning a blind eye to Dodik's secessionism; he is turning a blind eye tonight, he was turning a blind eye yesterday, because even Schmidt himself apparently benefits from a frozen conflict, while Dodik says - 'after all, Republika Srpska will remain in BiH, Dayton BiH, only as much as Dayton, or as much as BiH is formed or survives on the concept of the Dayton Agreement. If this pressure from guests who call themselves ambassadors, or ambassadors of the OHR, or one guest like Schmidt, continues, then in that case, Republika Srpska must go its own way.'

And it can go, but that path leads to disappearance. Foreign officials used to respond that way; today, they have softened their rhetoric, and the reason might lie precisely in the fact that a frozen conflict suits everyone.