On Thursday, May 30th, the government of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian (BiH) entity Republika Srpska (RS) appointed a Working Group to draft an agreement on the “peaceful separation” of RS from the other entity in BiH, the Federation of BiH (FBiH).
The Working Group was appointed a week after the RS government announced its plan for a peaceful separation.
The proposal coincided with the day the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted the Resolution on Srebrenica, in the very town that was being discussed.
“The task of the Working Group is to draft a proposal for the agreement on the peaceful separation of RS from the FBiH, which will be proposed by the Government of RS to the National Assembly of RS (NARS),” the RS government stated after Thursday’s session.
The statement added that the Working Group, tasked with drafting the agreement on “peaceful separation,” includes Minister of Justice Milan Bukejlovic, Minister of Internal Affairs Sinisa Karan, RS Entity Attorney Milimir Govedarica, Director of the Republic Administration for Geodetic and Property-Legal Affairs Dragan Stankovic, and Director of the RS Tax Administration Goran Maricic.
Other members include Lazar Stjepanovic, legal representative of RS, Jelena Pajic Bastinac, General Secretary in the Office of the President of RS, and Dalibor Panic, General Secretary of the entity’s government.
For the “peaceful separation,” frequently mentioned by pro-Russian President of RS Milorad Dodik, the Constitution of BiH would need to be amended to allow for a referendum on the issue, requiring a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PABiH).
This would also need the consent of Bosniak and Croat representatives and the approval of the international community, particularly the members of the UN Security Council – the United States (U.S.), Russia, China, the United Kingdom (UK), and France – without whose support RS would not be admitted to the UN.
Due to anti-Dayton and unconstitutional activities and secessionist announcements, Milorad Dodik is on the list of U.S. and UK sanctions.
Along with Dodik, the sanctioned list by the U.S. includes appointed members of the Working Group: Milos Bukejlovic, Dragan Stankovic, and Jelena Pajic Bastinac, Radio Slobodna Evropa writes.
E.Dz.
