What does the sovereign equality of BiH, Serbia, and Croatia mean according to the Dayton Peace Agreement?

By Sifet Kukuruz

Article 1 of the Dayton Peace Agreement obliges the Republic of BiH, the Republic of Croatia, and the Republic of Serbia to respect each other's "sovereign equality".

This contractual clause means that if Croatia and Serbia have the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the state of BiH, then the principle of "sovereign equality" gives the state of BiH the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Serbia and Croatia, to the same extent and in the same way as they interfere in the internal affairs of BiH.

Therefore, the principle of "sovereign equality" means that these three states are equally sovereign in their mutual relations. None of the aforementioned three states is more or less sovereign in relation to another.

One or two states cannot interfere in the internal affairs of another state/s, while at the same time that state/s does not have the same right and to the same extent to interfere in the internal affairs of that state.

The qualifier "equality", which is explicitly stated in the Dayton Peace Agreement alongside the principle of sovereignty of the signatory states of the Dayton Peace Agreement, indicates that these states are sovereign in their mutual relations on the principle of reciprocity.

None of the three signatory states of the Dayton Peace Agreement can arrogate to itself the right to interfere in the internal affairs of another state, while simultaneously denying such a right to another state. This would represent a denial of the principle of "sovereign equality" in mutual relations.

Therefore, the state of BiH has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Serbia and Croatia in exactly the same way and to the same extent as they interfere in the internal affairs of BiH.

Thus, either Serbia and Croatia will stop interfering in the internal affairs of the state of BiH, or, on the principle of reciprocity, the state of BiH will have to be recognized the same right to interfere. This is the rule established by the Dayton Peace Agreement.