BiH Eastern Border: Serbia proposes to exchange State Territory to cover up Debts

After the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), Denis Becirovic, once again put the public’s focus on the issue of the demarcation of BiH and Serbia, here is an overview of the events related to the demarcation of the two states.

Becirovic‘s cabinet announced that the Presidency of BiH should also consider the report of the State Commission for the Border of BiH with a proposal for concrete conclusions.

The Council of Ministers and the State Commission for the Border of BiH should submit to the Presidency a report on the negotiations so far regarding the demarcation of BiH and Serbia, as well as a proposal for measures aimed at intensifying activities in order to be able to conclude an agreement on the state border.

Border disputes between BiH and Serbia essentially boil down to demarcation problems on the Drina River.

Serbia previously requested “correction” of the border line, which implies a mutual “territory exchange” in order to better adapt the state borders to the needs of the local population.

In BiH legislation there is no such term as “exchange of territories”, which means that the procedure for such a thing would consist of concluding international agreements.

Dangers and opportunities

The Drina River is a water resource of BiH and Serbia along the border line that would go through the middle of that river, and since hydropower plants use both land and water resources of both countries, only Serbia benefits from them at the moment.

A big problem for Serbia is the payment of fees for submerged land in BiH municipalities/cities of Bratunac, Srebrenica, Visegrad, Rogatica and Zvornik.

According to some estimates, the municipality of Visegrad should receive at least 500,000 BAM annually from Serbia, Srebrenica 350,000 BAM, Rogatica 150,000 BAM, and Zvornik as much as 1.2 million BAM.

The authorities in Serbia do not pay for it, nor do they want it to be topic which is talked about, but dominantly insist on the famous “exchange” of territory precisely in order to avoid paying fees with interest, Klix.ba reports.

E.Dz.