The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide and Mothers and Movement of Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves submitted a letter to the Office of the High Representative, the acting High Representative, Louis J. Crishock, due to the resolution of the Croatian Parliament and the declaration of the All-Serb Assembly adopted in the Parliament of Serbia.
The letter states that the address calls for the protection of the Constitutional Order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, emphasizing the complexity of its constitutional setup, geopolitical position, and as they state, continuous attempts by the neighboring countries, Serbia and Croatia, to adopt its territories, which, according to their statements, recognized also through the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
In the letter, the Association invokes the resolutions of the European Parliament from 2005, 2009, 2014, 2018, the resolution of the UN General Assembly from 2024, as well as the 2025 resolution of the Council of Europe, stating that those documents call for respect for judgments of the ICTY and the territorial continuity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Concerns Raised over Political Messages
The letter states they express a serious concern due to political messages and goals contained within the resolution of the Croatian Parliament on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the declaration of the All-Serb Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and Republika Srpska.
Bećirović: Croatia has no right to interfere in the internal matters of the sovereign country of Bosnia and Herzegovina
They emphasize that both documents formally call for respect of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but consider that their political requests represent a serious attempt to influence the internal constitutional and political order of the sovereign state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As they stated, the resolution of the Croatian Parliament advocates for institutional solutions that entail the amendments to the electoral system of Bosnia and Herzegovina aligned with political requests of one ethnic policy, while the declaration of the All-Serb Assembly affirms the concept of a unified Serb political space, especially connecting of Republika Srpska with the Republic of Serbia and continuous strengthening of the entity’s authorities, along with years of public blockades and calls by Republika Srpska representatives for secession from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Call for Condemnation of Political Initiatives
The Association and the Movement of Mothers seek condemnation of all these political initiatives within the framework of facts confirmed in the final and binding verdicts of the International Crime Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
They reminded that the Tribunal, through multiple judgments, confirmed the international character of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, participation of the state structures of the Republic of Croatia and the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as well as the existence of separate Joint Criminal Enterprises, whose political goals, as they stated, included territorial division of Bosnia and Herzegovina on ethnic grounds.
In the letter, they warned that some political goals contained within the resolution and declaration could be understood as a continuation of long-term efforts to achieve a decisive influence on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina through political, institutional, and diplomatic mechanisms.
They added that, exactly due to historical experience and judicially established facts, it is impossible to perceive these processes as regular political matters.
Call to the OHR and the International Community
The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide and the Movement of Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves invited the Office of the High Representative (OHR), as the final authority for interpretation of civil aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement, to carefully consider political and legal consequences of these documents and to, within its authorities, prevent every attempt of undermining sovereignty, constitutional order, and functionality of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
They also issued a call to the European Union, Peace Implementation Council, the United Nations, and all signatory states to the Dayton Peace Agreement to follow carefully the political processes that could jeopardize the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.
At the end of the letter, they said they believe that protecting sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina are fundamental preconditions for lasting peace, security, and the protection of the dignity of all war crimes victims.
They state that the experience from the 90s obliges domestic institutions and the international community to react promptly to policies that could lead to deepening of divisions and undermining peace, with the conclusion that it must never again be allowed that political projects that bring into question the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina be left without a timely and decisive reaction by the international community.
