Bosnia and Herzegovina is marking 27 years since the initialing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 1995-92 war and established the country's constitutional system.

The document was signed after a three-week long peace conference at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio by late President of what was then called the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alija Izetbegovic, late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and also late President of then Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic.

“This may not be a just peace, but it is more just than the continuation of war,” said Izetbegovic as he signed the deal on December 14 in Paris.

Those who witnessed the signing of the document said that lead negotiator and architect of the Dayton Agreement Richard Hoolbrooke was aware that such a peace deal cannot build up a stable and prosperous Bosnia and Herzegovina. He then said Bosnia and Herzegovina will have to maintain this kind of a constitution for at least 15 years but the agreement stayed alive even a decade after that.

The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was incorporated in the peace deal, is still valid today.

It kept the country as a single state but divided its territory and power to the Bosniak-Croat shared Federation (FBiH) and Serb-majority Republika Srpska entities.

A central authority that controls the country's foreign, trade and monetary policies is operating from Sarajevo. Reform processes that followed afterwards created joint armed forces and police at the state level.

There were several unsuccessful attempts of constitutional reforms over the past decades and, according to some international officials, the Dayton deal has been overcome.

In Republika Srpska, which marks this day as an official holiday, there is a belief that original elements of the Dayton Agreement must continue to be applied and obeyed.