Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska (RS), threatened the independence of that entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) if the High Representative for BiH, Christian Schmidt, imposed a law on state property.
“There will be a session of the National Assembly of RS (NARS) and immediately after that the RS will be declared independent,” Dodik said yesterday in Banja Luka after a meeting with representatives of the RS government.
The territorial integrity and sovereignty of BiH as one state with two entities and the Brcko District are guaranteed by the Dayton Peace Agreement, and this agreement and the Constitution of BiH do not give any entity the right to secede.
Milorad Dodik, President of the RS, Zeljka Cvijanovic, member of the Presidency of BiH, Prime Minister of the RS Radovan Viskovic, President of the NARS Nenad Stevandic and Entity Minister of Justice Milos Bukejlovic are under United States (U.S.) sanctions due to threats to the Dayton Peace Agreement.
The meeting in Banja Luka was held two days after the Court of BiH confirmed the indictment against Dodik and the acting director of the Official Gazette of the RS Milos Lukic who are charged with the criminal offense of failure to implement the decisions of the High Representative for BiH.
The indictment was brought after the NARS adopted two controversial laws on June 27th, which Dodik signed according to the regular legislative procedure, and which were published in the Official Gazette of the RS.
In July, the High Representative of the International Community in BiH, Christian Schmidt, annulled the anti-Dayton laws adopted by the NARS in connection with the non-publication of the decisions of the High Representative and the non-application of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH.
Due to the decisions of the NARS, Schmidt also made a decision to amend the Criminal Code of BiH so that any illegal actions that violate the constitutional order will be treated as criminal offenses. The amendments criminalize disrespect and non-implementation of the High Representative’s decisions, and the penalty can be up to five years in prison.
Dodik reiterated that the RS “rejects the indictment that was confirmed against him and the acting director of the Official Gazette, Milos Lukic”, assessing them as “politically motivated”.
RS officials, led by Dodik, dispute the legitimacy of the High Representative because his official appointment in the United Nations (UN) Security Council was opposed by China and Russia. Other countries stated that there was no need for that, Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
