PIC again warns RS: We will not allow undermining of BiH's competencies

(Patria) - Ambassadors of the member countries of the Steering Board (SB) of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) consider that the recent publication of the RS Election Law and the Law on Referendum and Civic Initiative in the Official Gazette of the RS seeks to usurp the competencies of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH and create parallel legal frameworks.

"These laws, as such, violate the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina and pose a risk to the conduct of the upcoming elections. The international community will not allow any undermining of state competencies through the establishment of a parallel electoral system in the RS.

We call on relevant political entities to ensure the protection of the state by submitting requests for an assessment of the compliance of these laws with the constitutional and legal order of BiH.

The ambassadors of the PIC SB emphasize the dangerous and destabilizing consequences of attacks on the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the constitutional and legal order of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such attacks include legislative and political activities aimed at undermining the competencies of the state.

The ambassadors of the PIC SB state that the recent publication of the Election Law and the Law on Referendum and Civic Initiative of the RS in the Official Gazette of the RS seeks to usurp the competencies of the CEC BiH and create parallel legal frameworks. Read the full statement: https://t.co/1Q3jHpnPaA

— OHR BiH (@OHR_BiH) July 16, 2024

The Steering Board reminds actors that the international community retains the necessary instruments to respond to these activities and is fully united in the need to protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and multi-ethnic character of this country.

The ambassadors of the PIC SB reiterate that entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina are not states. They exist solely on the basis of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and have no sovereignty of their own.

Sovereignty rests with Bosnia and Herzegovina as a single state, whose territorial integrity is guaranteed by the General Framework Agreement for Peace. The General Framework Agreement for Peace establishes the continued existence of both entities.

The ambassadors of the PIC SB also firmly reject the false narrative that the existence of the entity Republika Srpska is threatened or disputed by any local or international actor," the joint statement of the PIC SB ambassadors reads.