President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik accused the Ambassador of the USA to BiH Maureen Cormack of “creating instability in BiH with her statements and working exclusively in the function of Bosniak policy”.
The Decision by the National Assembly of the RS on referendum at which citizens in this BiH entity will declare about whether or not they support the marking of January 9 as the Day of RS was officially published in the Official Gazette of RS.
Late last year, the Constitutional Court of BiH reached a decision according to which January 9 cannot be marked as the Day of RS because that is unconstitutional and that authorities in Republika Srpska must determine another date that will be marked as the day of this BiH entity. Politicians from Banja Luka did not like that decision, so they announced the referendum on September 25 this year, when the citizens in RS will declare on the marking of this date.
The referendum question will be “Do you support the marking and celebration of January 9 as the Day of Republika Srpska”?
After the announcement of the referendum, the Ambassador of the USA to BiH Maureen Elizabeth Cormack reacted. She said that, when it comes to the scheduled referendum, their viewpoint is that Constitutional Court of BiH is an integral part of the Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement and decisions by this court are final and binding and therefore must be respected.
In a video message, Ambassador Cormack said that “in the capacity of the Ambassador of the USA to BiH she clearly says that statements from the Embassy do not reflect her personal attitudes or attitudes of employees, but that they represent the policy of the US Government.
“Respecting the principles of legitimacy by everyone in BiH is of crucial importance for the democratic process, as well as for a very important assignment of opening new workplaces and developing economy, so that the citizens of this country can live better. Without a functional legal framework and stability that it provides, it is impossible to solve economic and political challenges that this country faces. Holidays and their marking are an important part of every culture. Instead of moving on with the unconstitutional referendum, the leaders should be working on solving disagreements in the interest of all citizens. Previous funds will be spent on the referendum, and there will be no progress whatsoever,” Ambassador Cormak stated.
Among other things, Ambassador Cormack added that it is not in the interest of the citizens of RS that their leaders continue activities on this referendum, just as it is not in the interest of those who aim at violating the Dayton Peace Agreement or the constitutional order and who thereby represent a threat to security, stability and prosperity in BiH.
When asked about a comment on the message by the Ambassador Cormack, Milorad Dodik stated that he believes that such messages were actually created by Bosniaks from Sarajevo who work in the US Embassy and that Cormack could not avoid to support them, and that her message is not the viewpoint of the US Government.
(Source: nap.ba)
