Huskic: Dodik is the chief reason why OHR is still in BiH

The newly elected member of the Presidency BiH, Milorad Dodik accused during his inauguration the international community in BiH for the bad situation in that country, followed by his promise to campaign for closing the OHR office.

- Bosnia and Herzegovina as it stands today is significantly removed from the text of the Dayton Agreement and its most important annex – the Constitution of BiH, and it's not going in the right direction. It is not just a regression but a road to practical cessation and non-existence. If we keep going down that road, it would be a continuation of the present agony which is largely caused by so called international community, or a part of it, to be more precise. I'm referring to the institution of the high representative and his OHR office as an unconstitutional and even unDayton category it became over the past years. We have to note that the OHR has not been alone in its antiDayton activity. It has been significantly backed and supported by some ambassadors in Sarajevo and as such it has been violating the international right and the international agreement without feeling responsible for doing so, said Dodik in his inauguration speech.

- I think there will be no stability and development as long as the international interventionism is present, Dodik told reporters after the inauguration ceremony.

Dr Adnan Huskic, the university professor of international relations, thinks that, if there should be one person identified as the reason for OHR to be still present in the country, 'it would be Milorad Dodik', so his insisting on closing the OHR is so much more absurd.

- The whole story about closing the OHR began at the same time as Dodik's ethno-sovinistic rampage, Dr Huskic told Patria.

Political Directors of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board at their meeting in Brussels on 26 and 27 February 2008 set out the requirements that need to be met by the BiH authorities prior to the closure of the OHR. This program is referred to as 'Agenda 5+2 (5 objectives and 2 conditions).

The 5 objectives are as follows:

- Acceptable and Sustainable Resolution of the Issue of Apportionment of Property between State and other levels of government;
- Acceptable and Sustainable Resolution of Defense Property;
- Completion of the Brcko Final Award;
- Fiscal Sustainability (promoted through an Agreement on a Permanent ITA Co-efficient methodology and establishment of a National Fiscal Council); and
- Entrenchment of the Rule of Law (demonstrated through Adoption of National War Crimes Strategy, passage of Law on Aliens and Asylum, and adoption of National Justice Sector Reform Strategy).

The 2 conditions are: 1) Signing of the SAA; and 2) A positive assessment of the situation in BiH by the PIC SB based on full compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement.

The Agenda is still in force as there are still objectives and conditions to be fulfilled prior to OHR closure.

- Therefore, Dodik is the biggest culprit for the prolonged presence of the international community in BiH. Had he not started what he started in 2006, we would have had entirely different situation right now, says Dr Huskic, underlining that we should not ignore the fact that Dodik's ideas about OHR closure are supported and echoed by the Russian Federation.