The caucus of SNSD representatives in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NARS) has submitted to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) a request for an assessment of the constitutionality of the decision on the formation of the office and the procedure for appointing the chief negotiator of BiH with the European Union (EU).
SNSD representatives stated that they believe the part of the decision which stipulates that the chief negotiator is to be appointed only by representatives of one chamber of the state Parliament, namely the House of Representatives, excluding both the Presidency of BiH and the Council of Ministers and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PABiH), is not in accordance with the Constitution.
SNSD is also requesting that the Constitutional Court issue a temporary measure suspending the said decision until the court’s final ruling, and the possibility of intervention by the NARS regarding the selection of the chief negotiator is not excluded.
The head of the SNSD caucus in the NARS, Srdjan Mazalica, stated that this decision violated the Constitution of BiH as well as competencies.
“This endangers not only RS but also the basic principles of the Dayton Agreement and the protection of the principle that no decisions can be made in the institutions of BiH without the Serbian people,” Mazalica assessed.
The chairman of the Legislative Committee of the NARS, Mladen Ilic, reminded of the competences of the Presidency of BiH, such as conducting foreign policy, appointing ambassadors and other international representatives, representing BiH in international and European organizations and institutions, and applying for membership in those international organizations and institutions in which BiH is not a member, as well as conducting negotiations for concluding international agreements.
“If something like this passes and becomes subject to decision-making, that the House of Representatives of the PABiH selects the negotiator, and that negotiator begins his work, under that principle, we could come to a situation where the Constitutional Court’s decision on that basis would be that such a decision was not in accordance with the Constitution of BiH. To have such a thing annulled – you can imagine how that will look in the eyes of people who will be talking with those same persons, that is, the negotiator, on the topic of BiH’s accession to the EU,” said Ilic.
