SDA: Russian Ambassador's Statement is Diplomatically Inappropriate

The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) considers the statement by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Petar Ivancov, in which he expresses support for the authorities of the RS entity to hold the referendum scheduled for September 25, to be inadmissible and diplomatically inappropriate, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

It is inadmissible for the ambassador of a country that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH to support those who undermine BiH's sovereignty, because opposing the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH is a disrespect of this country's sovereignty.

The Russian ambassador's statement represents direct support for the discrimination that has been carried out for years by the authorities of the RS entity. The celebration of January 9 as the Day of the RS means celebrating and glorifying the policies of Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, who are responsible for the greatest crimes committed against Bosniaks in the history of this nation. On January 9, 1992, Serb deputies in the Parliament of the Republic of BiH launched a coup against the constitutional system of the Republic of BiH by designating almost 80% of the territory of the Republic of BiH as exclusively Serb, after which the persecution and ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs from that territory began.

We wish to remind the esteemed ambassador that the Constitutional Court of BiH, as the highest judicial instance, has made a decision declaring January 9 as the Day of the RS unconstitutional. The decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH are final and binding, and their non-fulfillment constitutes a criminal offense!

We also remind that the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has also stated that January 9, which is celebrated as the Day of the RS and the slava (patron saint's day) of this entity, discriminates against the non-Serb population in this part of BiH.

The SDA once again calls on everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the authorities in the RS entity, to respect the Constitution of BiH and the Dayton Peace Agreement. We call on the institutions of BiH and the international community to protect the authority of the Constitutional Court of BiH, i.e., to protect the Constitution of BiH and the Dayton Peace Agreement.