EU High Representative Kaja Kallas continued her visit to BiH with a meeting with members of the BiH Presidency. After the meeting, a press conference was held at which all members of the Presidency, as well as the guest from the EU, spoke. The diametrically opposed positions of the two members of the Presidency in relation to the Chairwoman could be heard, but the message from the EU is clear: the Constitution of BiH must be respected, it is dangerous to undermine the territorial integrity of the country, and Kaja Kalas said that the RS leadership undermines the constitutional order of the country and threatens fundamental freedoms.
“We have many stumbling blocks on the EU path, not only when it comes to BiH but also to the entire region. I believe that we will overcome these problems with reasonable behavior. This was an opportunity for our guest to see how we see the situation in BiH differently and that we have different problems,” said the Chairwoman of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović at the very beginning of the press conference.
As she said, the fictitious Bonn powers led BiH from one wrong stop to another.
“The EU should not be used as a training ground for clashes. I have indicated that this is my political position: I believe that domestic institutions should make internal agreements and behave in the spirit of democracy. I do not agree that there can be some unelected foreigner who can pass laws instead of institutions,” Cvijanović stated.
She noted that Christiam Schmidt amended the Criminal Code, not domestic institutions. She also emphasized that impositions are not accepted, that she does not accept solutions that are not in the spirit of democracy, and that on the EU path, there should be interlocutors who will not favor anyone but respect everyone’s position.
“Nothing is happening in RS that would undermine the territorial integrity of BiH. We have a different view in half of the country, in RS, which is being propagated in the other part of the country, in FBiH. Institutions in RS say that things should be resolved through dialogue, what I hear from colleagues in Sarajevo is “arrest, detain, sanction, remove from power”. If that is the approach that should lead to the EU, then feel free to pursue that path,” stated the Chairperson of the BiH Presidency.
