RESPONSE TO KUZMANOVIĆ - DO NOT INVOKE THE DEVIL Legal experts for NAP: The dream of a Serbian state is alive, RS acts in coordination with Serbia!

(Patria) - President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts (ANU) of RS Rajko Kuzmanović stated yesterday that, due to numerous changes and other social circumstances, it is necessary to adopt a new constitution of RS.

Kuzmanović, who once also held the position of President of RS, believes that the Government and the National Assembly of RS have the appropriate instruments for this, which is why the initiation of the procedure for adopting a new constitution is expected.

Kuzmanović: The Government and the NSRS have the instruments (Photo: ANURS)

- The constitution protects the identity and sovereignty of RS, which as an entity received all elements of a state through it, relying on three pillars accepted in the world - the sovereign people, territory, and organized government. The people and political authorities of RS will strongly stand behind this act, just as they stand behind the current constitution today - claims Kuzmanović.

Trnka: They are trying to commit violence

Nothing new from Kuzmanović, he has been telling the same story from the nineties until today, says constitutional law expert Kasim Trnka for the Patria News Agency (NAP).

- When we look at his constitutional law textbook, published in 1998, half of it talks about the constitutional order of the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and only then mentions RS, emphasizing that it is a "state of the Serbian people." That is actually how it was written in the first constitution that Radovan Karadžić adopted in the RS assembly in 1992, where it was stated that RS is "a state of the Serbian people and others who live there" - Trnka told us.

All of that later changed significantly, says Trnka. First, through decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH from 2002, which emphasized that the constituent status of peoples is equal throughout the entire territory of BiH. Then, the High Representative, since the entity of RS did not want to change its constitution, adopted a large number of provisions that essentially nullified everything where state, sovereignty, etc., were mentioned.

- In the current situation, they still dream the dream of a sovereign state and a sovereign Serbian people. None of that stands in the Dayton Agreement, nor in the Constitution of BiH, nor in other documents from Dayton. So, they are trying to commit violence, to possibly adopt it in the Assembly, but then the Constitutional Court of BiH would certainly have to intervene again, which has already determined that many provisions of the RS Constitution are not in accordance with the BiH Constitution. Or the High Representative would intervene, as is the case with the laws on state property - Trnka underscores.

In December 2021, the National Assembly of RS adopted the Declaration on Constitutional Principles, which, among other things, states that the adoption of a new text of the RS Constitution should be initiated.

"The National Assembly instructs the Government of RS, in coordination with the President of RS, to prepare a text of the RS Constitution that will confirm all competencies of RS, excluding competencies that belong to BiH under the BiH Constitution. The new RS Constitution will, among other things, designate Banja Luka as the capital city of RS, and Pale as the seat of RS," it was stated in that Declaration.

Trnka points out that since it was a Declaration, which is not binding, it was not possible to intervene against it through legal means.

Trnka: They still dream the dream of a sovereign state (Photo: Patria archive)

Our interlocutor emphasizes that special attention should be paid to the behavior of Serbia - because "everything they do in RS is in direct coordination with Serbia."

- Unfortunately, this pro-Russian orientation, which makes life difficult in BiH, is also coordinated with Serbia. The fact that representatives of the international community, who are even called upon by Dayton to ensure the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, react either slowly or not at all to such anti-Dayton actions is concerning.

Only recently, when the geopolitical situation changed a bit and when it saw that Russian influence was spreading in these areas, Europe realized that it should pay a little more attention to this area, and that is why the candidate status for BiH came, to bind us more to the EU - Trnka emphasized.

He considers it important that there are reactions from pro-Bosnian intellectuals to such and similar actions from RS, citing among them the Council of the Congress of Bosniak Intellectuals, Circle 99, but also numerous other non-governmental organizations. However, as he says, the academic community has become somewhat silent.

- We could expect more from universities, faculties of social sciences to react to such things with the authority of scientific thought and from a scientific and professional standpoint, without adhering to any political elements. And there are quite a few individuals, I hope I am among them, who often speak out about such things - says Trnka.

Such activities in RS regarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH are dangerous to the extent that the international context develops - if it favors them, they will certainly become even more dangerous.

- They are especially dangerous if, above all, the USA, which are the creators of the Dayton Peace Agreement, but also the European Union (EU), and even NATO itself, continue not to react. So, we depend on international but also domestic factors - Trnka concludes in an interview with NAP.

Išerić: Kuzmanović is misleading the public

Legal expert Enver Išerić is of the opinion that Kuzmanović is misleading the public, and that amending the RS Constitution from the standpoint of legal theory would not be controversial, because with the development of social relations, the need for changes to certain legal acts arises.

- However, from the further text we can conclude that the professor would change the Constitution in the direction of defining the Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity of RS as a state. He further states: "The National Assembly adopted the Constitution of the Serbian Republic of BiH in 1992," thereby considering that RS was constituted as a permanent category and an expression of the will of the people. Kuzmanović forgets, or intentionally does not say, that RS is a permanent category only as long as it respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Išerić points out.

He told Kuzmanović that the elements of a state are territory, population (not a sovereign people), and government, and that it is a fact that RS, as well as the Federation of BiH, has these elements.

Išerić: Entities cannot be sovereign (Photo: Patria archive)

"If we interpret theory that way, professor, then the cantons in the Federation also have these elements (population, territory, and government). But they, however, like the entities of RS and FBiH, are not states. That means entities have no sovereignty, neither internal nor external, and since the bearers of sovereignty are the citizens of one state, it means that neither your citizens in RS, or as you say the people, are sovereign. This is because, professor, the highest authority in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not the entities," Išerić wrote on his Facebook profile.

Therefore, entities, adds Išerić, cannot be sovereign. And besides, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not allow any violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state.

- So, professor, do not mislead the public and do not invoke the devil. Teach students and citizens to love their state Bosnia and Herzegovina and to build it as a state where constitutionality and legality will prevail, not individuals and the anarchy you invoke. Do not direct them in the wrong direction and towards goals that will never be achieved - Išerić stated.

(D. Kovač)