After SNSD representatives sent a letter to the US Congress and the EU institutions, today a second letter was sent to the same addresses. The letter was addressed to the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Layen, the EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell, the President of the European Council Charles Michel, the Presidents of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the US Congress, Mike Johnson and Patty Murray, and other relevant representatives of EU institutions, the Council of Europe and the USA. The letter was addressed to all members of the European Parliament, congressmen and senators, as well as to the ministers of foreign affairs of the EU member states.
The signatories of the letter are: Denis Zvizdić, member of the PD PSBIH Collegium, Kemal Ademović, chairman of the House of Peoples of the PSBiH, Saša Magazinović, chairman of the SDP BiH Club, Nihad Omerović, chairman of the NIP Club, Sabina Ćudić, chairwoman of the Our Party – BHI KS Club and representatives Rejhana Dervišević, Ermina Salkičević – Dizdarević, Mia Karamehić – Abazović, Aida Baručija, Jasmin Imamović, Albin Muslić and Predrag Kojović.
”With this letter, we would like to introduce you to the current political and security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the challenges we face with the aim of preserving peace, stability and the Euro-Atlantic future of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is an independent, sovereign, integral and internationally recognized state that has continuity of existence, which is also recognized in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Multi-ethnicity is true in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because members of monotheistic religions (Muslims, Catholics, Orthodox and Jews) have been living there for more than 500 years, who essentially testify that people of different worldviews can live in an environment of tolerance and coexistence. This is why the pro-Bosnian political forces have always advocated for a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional and integrated Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which there will be enough space for all people who call it their homeland, regardless of their name, religion, nation, origin or any other characteristic.
From 1992 to 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina went through the most difficult period in its history. The biggest crime in Europe after the Second World War was committed on the part of its territory that is today called the entity Republika Srpska – the genocide against the Bosniaks in Srebrenica.
In December 1995, the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed, which was not a perfect solution, but brought peace and stabilization. Since then, Bosnia and Herzegovina, although in very difficult political, social and economic conditions, has made progress in almost all fields, especially in economic recovery and the realization of the key foreign policy goals of the EU and NATO integration.
Unfortunately, Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the last few years, is faced with anti-constitutional, secessionist and retrograde policies that are encouraged and promoted by certain officials of the SNSD political party led by Milorad Dodik. What is the main determinant of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the foundation for peace, stability and prosperity, which is the territorial integrity, sovereignty, political independence and international legal subjectivity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is continuously contested. In the official documents from the 2015 Congress, the SNSD – Milorad Dodik stated as his strategic goal the secession of the Republika Srpska entity from Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. the completion of the war goals by political means. For this purpose, anti-Dayton activities are intensified, constant crises and blockades are created in the functioning of the state and its institutions, and pro-state political forces and representatives of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina are brazenly and aggressively insulted and provoked.
SNSD officials at the entity and state level constantly and targeted attack on two institutions that are Dayton and constitutional category with the aim of weakening their legitimacy and authority, aware that these are key constitutional and institutional obstacles to their secessionist, anti-constitutional and anti-state policies.
This is, first of all, the Office of the High Representative (OHR), which is provided for in Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement and which is the supreme interpreter of the civilian aspect of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and which has Bonn powers as an instrument for the protection of the Constitution, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Another state institution that is the subject of an anti-constitutional attack is the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is the supreme constitutional authority in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At the same time, activities are being conducted to demolish the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has been functioning successfully for almost 20 years, and this is solely due to the fact that currently criminal proceedings are being conducted against Milorad Dodik before this court for disobeying the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. the decisions of the High Representative and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In parallel with the aforementioned anti-constitutional activities, the ruling coalition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. entity Republika Srpska led by the SNSD through the adoption of anti – statutory decisions and acts is trying to seize the state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, although it is well-known and fully established legally and factually that the state property belongs to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the sole holder of the state property, as established by the Constitutional Court in several judgments of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Of particular concern are the announcements about the demolition of state institutions such as the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Intelligence Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SIPA, the Directorate for Indirect Taxation, etc., which represents a direct attack on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such anti-constitutional and anti-Dayton activities are recognized by the American and British administrations as a great danger to the peace, stability, rule of law and progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and almost the entire leadership of the Republika Srpska, that is, the SNSD, is on the “black list” and under US sanctions. and the United Kingdom.
In addition to the above, we would like to draw special attention to the fact that the ruling party in BiH. entity Republika Srpska, which is also part of the ruling coalition at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, strongly pro-Russian. Its president, Milorad Dodik, is the only politician who, at the beginning of the year, in the midst of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, honored the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. Milorad Dodik is also the only politician in Europe who, since the beginning of the aggression against Ukraine, has personally visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow twice and has given him full support for all the activities he is carrying out. All of the above confirms the fact that prominent SNSD officials represent the extended hand of the Kremlin regime in the Western Balkans and a proxy of Russian interests in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Modeled on that regime, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska adopted a law criminalizing defamation, which represents a direct attack on freedom of expression and freedom of the media and returns us to the period of censorship and totalitarian and autocratic single-mindedness. Also, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska plans to adopt a law declaring civil society organizations and international organizations financed by international grants to be agents of foreign influence. These are laws that essentially prohibit and prevent the work of free and professional media and civil society. Such prohibitions only exist in autocratic dictatorial regimes and there is no place for them in Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose foreign policy is membership in the European Union and the NATO alliance.
From all of the above, we can clearly and unequivocally conclude that the greatest threat to peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not represented by invented “religious radicalism” or “foreign interventionism”, but the greatest threat to peace is represented by the actions and actions of SNSD officials, most of whom, headed by Milorad Dodik, on the black list of the USA and Great Britain. The idea of the secession of Bosnia and Herzegovina presents a particular danger to peace. of the Republika Srpska entity, which Milorad Dodik is promoting and trying to implement, as well as his idea of a new border redrawing in the Western Balkans, which would be a direct attack on the territorial integrity of internationally recognized states. Bearing in mind that Mr. Through the demolition of the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dodik is already carrying out activities to realize the above-mentioned extremely dangerous and radical goals, be sure that peace will be threatened not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in the Western Balkans, and very possibly in Europe as well, because the destabilization of Europe is a recognizable goal of the regime from the Kremlin, which they hope can be achieved through their ally like Milorad Dodik.
That is why it is important to understand this in time and to act preventively. The international community must increase the number of soldiers in the EUFOR mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina as soon as possible, NATO must invite Bosnia and Herzegovina to full membership as soon as possible, and the European Union must open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, because we want to be part of democratic Western associations and we believe that a path that has no alternative.
On this occasion, we strongly reject the claims that often come from individual politicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina. entity Republika Srpska that the peoples and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot live together or that anyone wants the domination of one people over any other people. Our commitment is a free, democratic, European, sovereign, integral, secular and multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we will always fight for such a Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the letter states.