Regular and urgent session of the House of Representatives of BiH PS, representatives will discuss attacks on returnees in RS

(Patria) - The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH is expected to consider the principles of the Bill on Foreign Affairs of BiH today, proposed by the Council of Ministers of BiH, as well as international agreements and treaties. However, SNSD previously announced that they will not support the law on foreign affairs because they have a number of objections and will submit amendments.

The Constitutional-Legal Committee of the House of Representatives determined that the Bill on Foreign Affairs of BiH is in line with the Constitution and legal system of BiH, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs should declare itself on it at a session scheduled for today.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Josip Brkić stated at the session of the Constitutional-Legal Committee that the proposed law regulates the matter and relations of BiH institutions in conducting and implementing foreign policy.

He noted that the law on foreign affairs is being discussed in parliamentary benches for the first time because, as he said, it could never have had a parliamentary majority until this convocation of the Council of Ministers of BiH.

As stated in the explanation, the goal of adopting this law is to consolidate the existing legal regulations that establish and define the conduct of foreign affairs, and to arrange and systematize them into a single law.

Regarding the Bill on the Conclusion of International Treaties, the adoption of this law enables the establishment of a clear distinction between foreign policy and foreign affairs, which are conducted through the instrument of diplomacy.

The Constitutional-Legal Committee determined that the proposed law is in line with the Constitution and the legal system of BiH.

Representatives are also expected to consider the Report on the State of Radiation and Nuclear Safety for 2022, submitted by the State Regulatory Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety.

The consideration of several parliamentary initiatives is also planned, as well as the Proposal for a Decision on the Establishment of an ad hoc Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH for the Procedure of Appointing the Council of the Communications Regulatory Agency of BiH, proposed by the Ministry of Communications and Transport of BiH.

On frequent attacks on returnees in RS

After the regular session, an urgent session of the House of Representatives will be held with only one item on the agenda: "Frequent attacks on returnees in the entity of Republika Srpska and Proposal of measures and activities to improve the safety of returnees in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina".

The request for convening an urgent session with this agenda item was submitted by representatives: Edin Ramić, Šemsudin Dedić, Milan Dunović, Šemsudin Mehmedović, Safet Kešo, Zlatan Begić, Denijal Tulumović, Amor Mašović, Vlatko Glavaš, Šerif Špago, Nermin Mandra, Jasmin Emrić, Midhat Čaušević, and Elvisa Hodžić.

The explanation of the proposed agenda item states, among other things, that the public in BiH witnesses almost daily attacks on non-Serb returnees in the entity of Republika Srpska, which, as stated, have recently taken the form of systematic action aimed at pressuring Bosniak and Croat returnees with the clear intention of forcing them to finally leave their homes.

It is added that physical attacks and threats, attacks on religious buildings, and provocations on religious and national grounds have been recorded in almost every returnee settlement in Republika Srpska.

Representatives who proposed the consideration of this agenda item also proposed that the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopt several conclusions.

The first proposed conclusion strongly condemns "frequent systematic attacks on returnees in the entity of Republika Srpska, motivated by religious and national intolerance, whose goal is to pressure Bosniak and Croat returnees with the ultimate intention of forcing them to leave their homes".

Furthermore, the authorities of Republika Srpska, especially the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, are asked to effectively protect returnees from attacks, instead of, as stated, tolerating, and sometimes encouraging, these attacks.

"We ask the High Representative in BiH to, in accordance with the obligations stipulated by the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH and the powers established by the Conclusions of the Peace Implementation Council from Bonn of December 9 and 10, 1997, enact a law that will strictly implement the provision on proportional national representation in police structures, and accordingly, to carry out the recruitment of a larger number of Bosniaks and Croats into the police structures of the entity of RS, and Serbs into the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Federation of BiH and cantonal ministries of internal affairs. The law should regulate that in settlements where returnees of one ethnicity constitute a majority, police officers from that ethnicity are appointed to leadership positions," states one of the proposed conclusions.

A conclusion is also proposed, requesting the Council of Ministers of BiH to form a state-level fund from which, over the next five years, the engagement of police officers living in the Federation of BiH and working in Republika Srpska, or police officers living in Republika Srpska and working in the Federation of BiH, would be stimulated.