After the ambassadors and consuls of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from the ranks of the Serbian people said that they would not mark the Independence Day of BiH, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted.
Arguing why this holiday should be celebrated in all diplomatic and consular missions (DKP), the Ministry singled out the following facts:
“March 1st as the Independence Day of BiH is determined by the Law on Proclamation of March 1 as the Independence Day of the Republic of BiH (Official Gazette of RBiH No. 9/95) of March 30th, 1995, which is still in force;
The provision of Annex II/2. in the Constitution of BiHstipulates that all laws, regulations, and court rules, which shall be in force on the territory of BiH when the Constitution enters into force, shall remain in force to the extent that they are not in conflict with the Constitution until otherwise determined by the competent governmental body of BiH;
Article I of the Constitution of BiH emphasizes Continuity and states: ‘The RBiH, whose official name is now BiH, continues its legal existence under international law as a state, with an internal structure modified by this Constitution and existing internationally recognized borders.’ ;
In the plenary session of the Constitutional Court of BiH, in case number U 18/16, a Decision was made rejecting as unfounded the request of 30 deputies of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (NARS) to review the constitutionality of the Law on Proclamation of March 1st list RBiH number 9/95). This Decision of the Constitutional Court also determines that the Law is in accordance with the Constitution and European conventions. The aforementioned Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH states, among other things, the following:
Respect for the Constitution and the law is the obligation of all of us. Given that no new law on holidays has been passed, we are obliged to respect and act in accordance with the current Law, which creates a legitimate obligation for the Ministry to promote the rights guaranteed by the constitution and international law to promote sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity;
The manner in which some of the ambassadors and consuls general of the Serbian people decided to communicate in public in this regard is a direct violation of the Code of Public Appeals passed on April 23rd, 2004, which explicitly states that all ambassadors and employees of the DKP network are obliged to refrain from political statements and qualifications that favor a certain political ideology outside the norms prescribed by the constitution and law;
To recall, on February 19th, ambassadors and consuls from the ranks of the Serbian people announced that they would not act on the instructions of the competent ministry to mark Independence Day. This was indicated by them to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bisera Turkovic (SDA) in an open letter.
