Izetbegović: Reaction to the referendum must not be absent

The Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the president of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Bakir Izetbegović said today that the President of Republika Srpska and the president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Milorad Dodik, and those who accompanied him in organizing today's referendum on the Day of that BiH entity, have stepped out of the protected legal zone into an illegal and unconstitutional position, Patria reports.

Izetbegović described that position as one that is against what the civilized world and the international community demand, assessing that it is a new stubbornness that crosses all boundaries.

- We have seen this in the last few decades from Serbian and Serbian leaders, and we have seen how it ends. This is not the first irrational stubbornness. These people pull the rope until it breaks, and then, of course, they fall on their backs – Izetbegović stated, N1 reports.

When asked if he expects sanctions for the referendum organizers, Izetbegović said that a reaction cannot be absent because, for him, this is a blatant example of violating the Dayton Peace Agreement, opposing the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, and violating the Criminal Code of BiH, but it is only a question of when that reaction will occur.

Commenting on Dodik's statement today that "those who want to arrest can arrest the entire referendum," Izetbegović emphasized that the entire referendum cannot be arrested, but those "who persuaded the people to go in that direction" can be.

Izetbegović is of the opinion that the reaction of the international community will not be absent either, because this is not how one treats the United States of America, the European Union, the Venice Commission, the Constitutional Court, the OHR, the PIC, without it having consequences.

- The constitutional and legal order of BiH will be defended, and the international community will defend its authority – concluded the Chairman of the BiH Presidency and president of the SDA Bakir Izetbegović.

(N1)