The initiative to challenge the name of the Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska and the Croat National Council’s (HNS) Declaration rejecting the UN court verdicts are not welcome, head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia, Bruce Berton, said for N1.
“The initiative is not welcome, especially now when Bosnia is about to form its government. I understand the frustrations and that the return process is not over, yet, but my question is how will this initiative solve these problems at a time when Bosnia is about to move out of the stalemate,” Berton asked.
Last month, Bosnia’s strongest Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) said they initiate a process before the Constitutional Court challenging the name of one of two Bosnia’s semi-autonomous entities, the Serb dominated Republika Srpska, citing discrimination against non-Serbs living there.
Namely, Bosnia consists of two entities: the Bosniak-Croat shared Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the RS.
The name of the Serb-dominated entity is, indeed, stipulated by the country’s constitution which is part of the Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the 1992-1995 war, and which was originally written in the English language. When read in English, the name of the RS entity has no particular meaning, but when read in Serbian it means the ‘Serb Republic.’
The party said that the name is used in such fashion that it implies the entity belongs only to Serbs and that other peoples are thus made to feel unwelcome in their own homes.
Berton said he also agrees with conclusions of international delegates overseeing the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board (PIC SB), who said the initiative is counterproductive and the Declaration is contrary to efforts to build trust among peoples.
When asked what the PIC SB could have done, Berton said:
“You’re probably thinking of the Bonn Powers, but those days are over. We need to urge the government to take things into their own hands and to make a compromise.”
According to Berton, the international community’s High Representative, who is in charge of interpreting the Dayton Peace Agreement and overseeing its civilian implementation, has the right to use the Bonn Powers – a set of powers by which the High Representative can impose decisions, laws and regulations, and that he does not need the PIC SB’s approval, but Berton said that people need to be more realistic.
“The High Representative alone cannot impose any decision without the support of the PIC SB, and that’s how the Office of the High Representative works. We can’t expect the OHR to solve problems. The State authorities need to do this.,” Berton noted.
Commenting on the Declaration adopted by the HNS, he said the Declaration is particularly unacceptable because it rejects verdicts of international courts.
“Other parts of the Declaration are also unacceptable. Like the part which speaks of the federalisation of Bosnia. The Constitution stipulates that Bosnia is a single country consisting of two entities,” Berton stressed.
The HNS is an association of several Croat parties in Bosnia, which adopted a Declaration on the state of the Croat people in Bosnia. In addition to the state of affairs of Croats in Bosnia, the Declaration also rejects the UN Tribunal’s verdicts against members of the Croat Defense Council (HVO), the armed force that took part in Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.
The tribunal convicted six of its members to a total of 110 years in prison and characterised their crimes as the joint criminal enterprise.
The Head of the OSCE Mission concluded that Bosnia needs to harmonise its laws with European standards and that the OSCE and the international community are ready to help Bosnia do that.
