Inzko: Rhetoric that invokes dark images of war is unacceptable

High Representative Valentin Inzko today congratulated the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the huge step forward made yesterday when the European Union in Brussels accepted BiH's application for EU membership. This is a step that unites all citizens, and they are also united by the fact that the path towards Europe will be accelerated, which includes the rule of law, the OHR announced, as reported by the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- September 20 is the day when BiH firmly stepped onto the European path and now the only direction is forward. The fact that BiH has reached this stage in its relations with the European Union is the strongest proof that cooperation and joint efforts yield results - said Inzko.

As a former Special Representative of the European Union, Valentin Inzko also expressed gratitude to all competent authorities in both entities and at the state level, and especially congratulated the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Denis Zvizdić and the EU Special Representative Lars-Gunnar Wigemark for their joint efforts.

Inzko also said that Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken an important step towards the European Union, which he wholeheartedly supports.

- This is the beginning of a journey on which elected leaders and institutions will need to show the will to transform this country, in order to align BiH with European standards. It is a long road and a process whose focus must be on real-life issues.

At the same time, the announced referendum on the Day of Republika Srpska has shown that some politicians in this country still seek to ignore this new reality, still looking to the past. Issues such as the referendum on January 9 only prevent this country from moving forward and slow down its further integration into the Euro-Atlantic family.

Issues such as the referendum consistently push discussion of the real problems of citizens into the background. People in Bosnia and Herzegovina are being denied discussion on the most important issues – the economy, healthcare, education, and generally a better standard of living.

From the standpoint of my mandate, the referendum is much more than pre-election politics aimed at scoring points. It represents a challenge to the Constitutional Court of BiH, its decisions, the constitutional framework of the country, and the rule of law in BiH. It is not a test of public opinion, as some would like to present it.

The Constitutional Court of BiH has suspended the Decision of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska on the referendum. That is a legal fact. Court decisions must be respected. For this reason, I call on the authorities of Republika Srpska to respect the Court's decision and not to hold this referendum, which has no legal basis.

The issue of state holidays should be resolved through dialogue and amendments to the law, and in accordance with the Court's decision from November last year, not through a referendum that represents a direct violation of the Constitutional Court's decision.

Likewise, aggressive rhetoric that calls for violence or force, or invokes dark images of war, is a thing of the past and is completely unacceptable. Therefore, I call on political actors on all sides to refrain from aggressive rhetoric. That kind of behavior has been left far behind in the past and has no place in the European future of BiH - the High Representative stated.