The High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt repealed the Law on non-publication of the decisions of the High Representative in the Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska, and the Law on the non-application of decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the territory of the Republika Srpska, which were adopted by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska.
He also made a decision on amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will treat actions that violate the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a criminal offense.
As he said, everyone who does not respect the law will be prosecuted.
“The recent decisions of the NARS directly violate the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and therefore the Dayton Peace Agreement. The Dayton Agreement was signed to end the terrible war. Our mandate is to ensure that such a thing never happens again,” emphasized Schmidt.
As he said, the entity assemblies do not have the authority to override the decisions of the Constitutional Court.
“We should not forget who will bear the heaviest consequences of the irresponsible adventurism of the ruling coalition in Banja Luka. It will be the citizens of Republika Srpska,” said Schmidt.
According to him, there are politicians who work intensively so that Bosnia and Herzegovina achieves progress on the way to the European Union.
“I hope that the political actors will come to their senses. It would be illegal and wrong to undertake such actions in the future,” said Schmidt.
He added that a solution can be found through conversation.
“The EU international community has a desire to bring BiH into its fold. We do not question the internal structure of BiH. Entities are part of the Constitution and will be until Parliaments or citizens decide that they want to have a different structure, but that can be achieved through democratic means “, emphasized Schmidt.
The High Representative’s decisions take effect immediately.
The President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik said earlier today that he will not accept any decision of Schmidt, calling him a “false high representative”.
He said again that “Schmidt is not legal”, and that “Republika Srpska will not accept any punishment”.
