What cannot be achieved by war can be achieved by stubbornness

By Muharem Cero

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No matter how much opposition parties in RS and those from "political Sarajevo", recognized only as pro-Bosnian, express disbelief and doubt in the long-present economic and political story of building an airport in Trebinje, judging by yesterday's session of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NSRS), it is quite certain that this process should be followed with special attention.
The basic postulate of civil law, including public law, is that no one can transfer more rights to another than they themselves possess.

For a long time now, by invoking the constitutional rights of parallel special relations between the smaller entity and Serbia, and in contact between the two governments without publicly presented agreements, it has been announced that Republika Srpska and Serbia are proceeding with the construction of the Airport in Trebinje. What is confusing and what initially seemed impossible is slowly becoming a reality. 1,234 hectares of BiH land in the area of Hum, Taleži, and Cerovica in Trebinje are being transferred through property rights to the ownership of the Republic of Serbia.

From everything known to the public so far, it has been presented that Serbia is entering this project under only one condition, which the BiH smaller entity is meeting: to be the exclusive and sole owner of the airport with its own right to manage it.

It is clear that the allocation of these twelve million three hundred and forty thousand square meters of Bosnian land, which has been under the Law on Prohibition of Disposal of State Property since 2005, incidentally adopted by the NSRS, the Parliament of FBiH, and the State Parliament, is nothing other than undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH, which cannot be realized through the Dayton right of parallel special relations.

In fact, the largest part of this property is forest and agricultural land (public goods of BiH), and as determined by the Constitutional Court of BiH, the right of ownership belongs to the state of BiH, not to any entity arrangement within it.

It all started with resolutions and conclusions of the NSRS. The Resolution on the constitutional status of RS, if the self-proclaimed pro-Bosnians still remember it, thwarted not only the registration of prospective military property but also any state involvement in the 'land registry space' of RS. The concept of Dodik's agreed-upon state was carefully prepared and began its operationalization. It was supported by none other than Vučić. He persistently confirmed in the media the respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of BiH so that the whole matter would be easier to push through.

Many naively believed him.

Political goals are a measurable category. It should still be stated that the declaration of pro-Bosnian political options and boasting about defending every centimeter of Bosnia is not a story where horses and saddles meet.

This Dodik-Vučić story has not been ongoing since yesterday's RS assembly, at least not until now, whether out of naivety or for a reason unknown to the public, no one has reacted to it. Even on the second day after yesterday's parliamentary operationalization and preparation for the commencement of the entire project, those who were mandated to act have not spoken out, let alone acted. If they remain silent, and they are silent, the Serb and Croat sleepers in BiH institutions who prefer the interests of their neighbors to those of Bosnia itself, why don't those who have been mandated to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their homeland do so?

The silence of what is called the international community in Bosnia is worrying; we have not seen, at least for now, reactions from the major embassies, nor from the authentic interpreter of Dayton.

So that, for who knows what time, a new letter is not carved on the Bosnian epitaph: "here lies the one who was right."