Serwer: Ethno-nationalist Leaders accepted what the Americans offered them in Dayton, “because it allowed them to stay in Power indefinitely”

Professor Daniel Serwer from John Hopkins University in Washington, speaking as a keynote speaker at the “Circle 99” session on “Is it time for post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina?”, said that in Dayton three constituent peoples managed to achieve peace and agreed to live in a sovereign state, based on the division of power, where it is provided that no nation can take power and decide independently without equal participation and support of other constituent peoples.

He added that it was no wonder that ethno-nationalist leaders at the time accepted what the Americans offered them in Dayton, “because it allowed them to stay in power indefinitely.”
 
“It is no wonder that Dodik and Čović are working on that, on strengthening the government of ethno-nationalists and their remaining in power. So, when we talk about post-Dayton BiH and those who have certain hopes in that direction, I would like to warn you that you need to be careful about what you want,” he stated.
 
Serwer believes that constitutional reform is a good way to work in BiH to establish a liberal democracy.
 
According to him, the state government in Sarajevo should have the responsibility and authority to conduct negotiations related to the acquisition of the acquis communautaire of the European Union and to establish rules in that sense, and municipalities should provide services to citizens and have the necessary budget.
 
The precondition for such a reform is, according to Serwer, “that the Constitution be redirected from the protection of group rights to the protection of individual rights, i.e. the rights of individuals.”
 
“However, it doesn’t matter what I think as an American. In BiH, 25 years after the war, you need to decide on that. So, the choice is yours, not mine,” said Serwer, Fena news agency writes.