Schmidt: BiH's sovereignty is not negotiable

(Patria) - High Representative Christian Schmidt addressed the media today after yesterday's meeting of ruling parties at the OHR.

"I call on all relevant actors in BiH to fully respect the constitutional mandate of the Central Bank of BiH, which means that the CB BiH continues to work primarily for the state and its institutions," Schmidt said at the beginning of his address.

"This year, as we know, we are marking 30 years since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. We are a little early because the anniversary is in December. This agreement ended the war, but it remains an indispensable ground for a peaceful future of BiH. We often hear the phrase 'original Dayton', and this refers to BiH's ability to defend its sovereignty and obliges the entities to respect what has been signed," the High Representative said in his address.

He reiterated that BiH is a sovereign state, and that entities exist exclusively within the state.

"The Dayton Agreement confirms that BiH exists as an independent state and that its administrative structure has been modified so that BiH consists of two entities. BiH is a sovereign state, and entities exist within the state".

Schmidt added that the actions of the authorities in RS have been strongly condemned.

"At the PIC meeting, the actions of the RS authorities that call into question the constitutional framework of BiH were strongly condemned. This includes disrespecting the decisions of the Constitutional Court, where it was confirmed on May 27 that decisions based on the Dayton Agreement are decisions that must be respected and there can be no difference between the original and today's Dayton," N1 reports.

"If there has been a transfer of competencies, it means that the competencies remain at the state level and that the state decides whether to return these competencies. The activities we have seen from that side do not serve the citizens, especially the citizens of RS. Therefore, these moves endanger the rights and freedoms of all citizens," Schmidt adds.

He says that the parties from Banja Luka who were at yesterday's meeting agreed on the issue of sanctions.

"The political parties present from Banja Luka agreed that the issue of sanctions is not directed against the citizens of RS. It is important to repeat that sanctions are not directed against citizens, but we are looking for a way to get out of the problems we have found ourselves in".

"Also, I heard some statements from Banja Luka complaining about whether parties from Banja Luka are allowed to appear and speak at the PIC. This is the right of every individual, and therefore I would recommend abandoning misinterpretations regarding who has the right to say who goes where".

He also touched upon the issue of next year's elections.

"The state must provide funds for elections for all polling stations, and the international community continues to have its concerns in this regard, because I said that the 2026 elections will be held in accordance with OSCE recommendations," he said and added:

"Entities have a legal obligation to respect all state decisions. Attempts to block legal competencies are unacceptable".

Regarding the amendments to the Election Law, he said that Croatian representatives spoke about the election of the BiH Presidency member, and others spoke about other problems.

- PIC members discussed the economic situation in BiH. It is not good to only have statements about the European path; it is important that it is actively completed in practice. I cannot recall his statement, we talked a lot, we agreed that if the work is done, there will be no need to use Bonn powers.

He also stated that a policy consisting of blocking is not an answer.

"A policy consisting of blocking sessions is never an answer. Government bodies must adopt the state budget because it must ensure sufficient funds".

He condemned Milorad Dodik's inflammatory rhetoric.

"Why would someone who is not responsible pay judgments in the Viaduct case? We also condemned Dodik's inflammatory rhetoric, as well as the increasing number of attacks on opposition politicians in Republika Srpska. Attacks on opposition politicians in RS are unacceptable".