Pelješac Case: Is Support for Dodik Heading for Confirmation in the RS Council of Peoples as Well

BANJA LUKA, (Patria) - Decisions adopted by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (NSRS) should also be confirmed by the Council of Peoples of that entity.

This was stated for the Patria News Agency by the Vice President of Republika Srpska, Ramiz Salkić, commenting on the support that the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, received from the NSRS on Thursday, after he refused to support the other two members of the Presidency who announced they would seek a halt to the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, before Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia ratify the border in the Bay of Mali Ston.

"Everything that has been adopted so far in the NSRS, whether it was laws, resolutions, declarations... everything also went to the Council of Peoples, that is, to the national clubs, where the national clubs state their position, after which the matter goes to the plenary session of the RS Council of Peoples," said Salkić.

"If there is no agreement at the plenary session of the RS Council of Peoples, then the matter goes to the Constitutional Court of the RS," added Salkić, emphasizing that if the procedure is respected, Bosniaks will have room to say that the NSRS decision regarding the Pelješac Bridge is a violation of the interests of the Bosniak people in that entity.

Salkić said that there has been an abuse of vital national or entity interest. The issue of the Pelješac Bridge, he added, is not a matter of interest for one entity or one people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, "but it is a matter of interest for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina."

The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina at its session on Tuesday, with two votes in favor and one against, adopted a conclusion calling on Croatia to stop the construction of the Pelješac Bridge and to resolve all open issues through dialogue, because Bosnia and Herzegovina has the right to access the open sea. If this does not happen, Bosnia and Herzegovina will initiate a conciliation procedure, and if necessary, will initiate proceedings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Members of the Presidency Željko Komšić and Šefik Džaferović voted for such a conclusion, while the Chairman of the Presidency, Milorad Dodik, was against it. Dodik invoked the issue of vital national interest. Dodik was also supported on Thursday by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska with 60 votes.