NSRS today on Dodik's statement about the Pelješac Bridge, part of the opposition and experts against

BANJA LUKA, (Patria) - A special session of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (RS), at the request of the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH Milorad Dodik, will be held today in Banja Luka.

"The National Assembly at that session should declare itself on the Proposal for a Decision on confirming Dodik's statement on the Conclusion on the official position of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the continuation of the construction of the Komarna - Pelješac bridge, which is very harmful to the vital interests of the Republika Srpska," the decision states.

The Presidency of BiH at a session on Tuesday, with two votes in favor and one against, adopted a conclusion calling on Croatia to stop the construction of the Pelješac bridge and to resolve all open issues through dialogue because BiH has the right to access the open sea. If this does not happen, BiH will initiate a conciliation procedure, and if necessary, will initiate proceedings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Members of the Presidency Željko Komšić and Šefik Džaferović voted for such a conclusion, while the Chairman of the Presidency Milorad Dodik was against it. Dodik thereby invoked the issue of vital national interest.
Legal expert Muharem Cero earlier assessed for the Patria News Agency that Dodik in this specific case does not have the constitutional right to initiate a vital entity interest.

„Member of the Presidency of BiH Milorad Dodik invokes Article 5 of the Constitution of BiH, which provides for the possibility of initiating the so-called vital entity interest in cases defined by Article 5 of the Constitution of BiH itself. However, given that before the Constitutional Court of BiH in the proceedings challenging the Border Service of BiH - case U9/00 - the Court established that there are competencies of the Presidency of BiH beyond Article 5 of the Constitution of BiH, i.e., those competencies defined by Article 3.5, which is the protection of territorial integrity, state sovereignty and political independence of BiH, the same practice should be applied in the case Dodik is talking about, i.e., in the case of the Pelješac bridge,“ Cero believes.

Some opposition MPs in the NSRS, such as Draško Stanoviković and Jelena Trivić, also announced that they would not support Dodik's request.