The vice president of the SDP and the delegate in the House of Peoples of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Denis Becirovic, said that advocating the policy of adopting joint laws of Serbia and BiH entity of the Republika Srpska (RS), represents an unprecedented scandal in the modern history of Europe and a direct attempt to overthrow BiH contrary to all norms of domestic and international law.
“The state of BiH is an independent, sovereign, indivisible, internationally recognized state, a member of the United Nations(UN), the Council of Europe, the OSCE, and other international organizations, a state that is on the path to the European Union (EU) and NATO integration,” he reiterated.
Becirovic pointed out that while Milorad Dodik and his supporters are blocking the state authorities of BiH, undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement and the BiH Constitution, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his followers are starting with a concrete realization of a Greater Serbia project that goes beyond Slobodan Milosevic’s policies in some aspects.
“It is obvious that Milosevic’s and Seselj’s supporters intend to destroy the united state of BiH with legislative activities in the Assembly of Serbia and the Assembly of the BiH entity of RS. This is a planned activity conducted from Belgrade which is restoring the criminal project of Greater Serbia.”
It is time for specific action by authorized representatives of the international community with the aim of stopping the demolition of the foundations of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the state of BiH. Serbia will never be able to occupy a single inch of the internationally recognized state of BiH but, unfortunately, expansionist forces in Serbia have the potential to ignite the entire region once again. The West must stop the Greater Serbia demon before it is too late to keep the peace. Aleksandar Vucicis a political copy of Slobodan Milosevic and the West must not close eyes to that, he told.
Becirovic stated that the Constitution of BiH precisely defines the equality of the Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian languages, as well as the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, and consequently the unilateral and unconstitutional protection of the Cyrillic alphabet represents discrimination against the other two languages, the Latin alphabet, and also a serious violation of the constitutional principle of equality.
“It is time for a systematic, clear, and decisive response from all democratic forces in BiH,” he concluded, Klix.ba writes.
The complexity of relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia is culminating these days after the arrest of former BiH Army member and senior official in the Federal Police, Edin Vranj in Serbia over the accusation that he is war crime suspect.
Relations between these two countries have almost never been settled, and the biggest burden is the attitude towards the past and the denial of Serbia’s responsibility for what happened in the1990s. But, below there is an explanation of what kind of relationship rollercoaster it was in the last year.
The first country to donate larger quantities of vaccines to BiH was Serbia, and during that process, there was a festive atmosphere at the airport. At that time, courteous messages were sent about the necessity of mutual assistance, better economic cooperation and investments. Then the citizens of BiH rushed to the unconditional vaccination of their choice anywhere in Serbia, and at a time when our country did not have enough vaccines, that open door meant a lot to many.
As soon as the story and criticism of the domestic authorities were reduced due to untimely procurement of vaccines, and when BiH, and especially some lower levels such as CantonSarajevo, exchanged bouquets of flowers with gratitude to Serbia, topics that essentially create a barrier in relations between the two countries appeared.
Dozens of suspected war criminals and fugitives from BiH are hiding and living freely in Serbia. Serbia does not arrest or send them to court, nor does it respect the cooperation agreement when it comes to war crimes cases. Such an attitude towards the past is a huge stumbling block in improving relations with BiH.
And while the story about the escape of Milomir Savcic to Serbia, who was suspected of genocide in Srebrenica, has not yet settled down, a new cold shower followed. Edin Vranj, a BiH citizen, was arrested in Priboj, just a hundred meters after crossing the state border. In BiH, the report against him was rejected and the case was closed, and precisely because of that rejection of the investigation, Serbia is arresting him. He is suspected of an alleged war crime against prisoners in Gorazde, Klix.ba writes.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs raises the bar to a higher level and warns all citizens who defended BiH in the war not to go to Serbia, as a precaution. There is also a famous list of potential suspects of several thousand, more precisely a list of those against whom a criminal report has been filed for an alleged war crime. Vranj was not on that list, and he was arrested. What message was sent to the other defenders by this move?
E.Dz.
