Fighting fire with fire: How to practically respond to the use of the anthem 'Bože pravde' in RS?

By: Enver Išerić, legal expert

The National Assembly of Republika Srpska adopted amendments to the Law on the Use of the Flag, Coat of Arms, and Anthem of that Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity. With these amendments, the entity Republika Srpska wants to re-legalize the use of symbols of a foreign state, namely the Republic of Serbia.

In this way, Republika Srpska is trying to implement the conclusions of the All-Serbian Assembly, violating the Dayton Peace Agreement and the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Constitutional Court previously determined that these symbols are not in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and explained that these official symbols are contrary to the constitutional principle of collective equality of constituent peoples, as they highlight the history, tradition, customs, and religious and national identity of Serbs, imposing such values on members of other constituent peoples, other citizens, and others in the territory of the Republika Srpska entity.

The legislative procedure is not yet complete, as the law now needs to be considered by the Council of Peoples of RS.
It is announced, which is normal, that a decision will be made in the Bosniak Caucus that the aforementioned law relates to vital national interest, which means that the aforementioned law will have to go through consideration in the Council of Peoples, and ultimately the Constitutional Court of RS will decide on it.

Since the Constitutional Court of RS will most likely decide that this law does not relate to the vital interest of Bosniaks (a sad observation, when we already know the decisions of that court), then the procedure, at the request of authorized applicants, will be conducted before the Constitutional Court of BiH.

From the entry into force of the law until the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the anthem "Bože pravde" will likely be performed and the coat of arms with the double-headed eagle – the Nemanjić coat of arms – will be displayed. If this happens, I propose that in such situations, representatives of Bosniaks in the institutions of the RS entity, in the same place and on the same occasion (for example, in the National Assembly of RS), use the Srebrenica Inferno (Srebrenica Hell), which is dedicated to the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica, and the flag and coat of arms of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, under which the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved victory over far more powerful aggressors.

Fighting fire with fire!