Izetbegović: Constitutional Court rulings will be implemented sooner or later

The decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH can contribute to the destabilization of relations in BiH, but we cannot give up on correcting injustice. We will continue to do so at all risks – said the Bosniak member of the Presidency of BiH Bakir Izetbegović today at a press conference, commenting on the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH that the Republic Day of Srpska on January 9th is not in accordance with the Constitution of BiH.

– I welcome the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, I think it would have been better if it had been made earlier. Because, I submitted the appeal that the law on holidays in RS is not in accordance with the Constitution of BiH almost three years ago – said Izetbegović.

Izetbegović does not think that the authorities in RS will implement the Court's ruling within six months, as ordered, because 60 other rulings have not been implemented, but sooner or later, he says, those decisions will be implemented. He said that generations of politicians will pass, but the rulings will remain.

– Bosnia and Herzegovina is also Serbian, Croatian, Bosniak, and belongs to all citizens who live in it. Each of its entities, including RS, is also Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian, and belongs to all its citizens who live in that entity. And this ruling has confirmed that.

That is why I am surprised by such an emotional reaction from politicians from RS, who claim that the ruling harms RS, that it is moving towards the abolition of RS, that I do not accept RS, that I am working against the interests of this entity. None of that is true.

Every step towards equality of people in that entity, the implementation of conventions, the Constitution, can only stabilize this entity and make it better. I personally accept the Republika Srpska, just as I accept everything that was accepted and signed in Dayton, and I am not working against the interests of this entity.

A number of investments that have entered RS, job creation, are a direct consequence of what I have done. For example, a food production factory that will employ 300 people, in Doboj, and a few thousand contractors, meat exports to Turkey, two-thirds of which come from RS, a loan approved by the Turkish side... all of this is a direct consequence of my work, and I am glad that I was able to contribute to the stabilization of the situation in RS.

However, Republika Srpska should be accepted by all its citizens, they should feel it as their own, not just for Serbs. After all, I am convinced that some Serbs in RS believe that it is not good to ignore the feelings and rights of others.

I call on the authorities in RS to implement the Court's ruling, to set a date for the celebration that is acceptable to everyone, and I call on all of us in BiH to correct all discriminatory provisions, to do so in parliaments, not in courts, to abolish everything that discriminates, that offends... I call for calm and mutual respect, and ultimately for a focus on current issues that mean improvement for all citizens in BiH – said Izetbegović.

He added that he would always file an appeal to correct injustices against anyone in BiH. He invited to point out irregularities in FBiH and said that he would personally advocate for the mistakes to be corrected.

When asked by journalists what date he proposes as the Day of Republika Srpska, Izetbegović said that it could be any date that does not offend non-Serbs in RS, and that, as far as he is concerned, it could even be the day of the signing of Dayton, when RS was recognized, writes Patria.