Bosnia's entities are not states regardless of how often one claims otherwise, international community's High Representative in Bosnia Valentin Inzko said on Saturday, stressing that “false claims” about the statehood of Republika Srpska, one of two semi-autonomous entities, “will therefore be reported to the UN Security Council.”
The statement comes after Republika Srpska celebrated its day on January 9, the date that Bosnia's Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional, as it falls on an Orthodox religious holiday and therefore favours only one ethnic group living in that entity.
Besides the disputable celebration, the holiday was also marked with statements and actions that the High Representative called “deliberately erroneous.”
Valentin Inzko, the Austrian diplomat, heads the Office of the High Representative (OHR) that was installed to oversee the civilian part of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the international treaty which ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
Two times a year, he submits reports on the situation in Bosnia to the UN Security Council.
“Celebrating the RS Day on January 9 shows a clear disregard for the rule of law and open contempt for decisions of the court. The BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Constitutional Court addressed the compatibility of 9 January as the RS Day with the BiH Constitution and found it unconstitutional,” he recalled.
Reiterating that he does not oppose the RS Day “as long as it is organised and celebrated in accordance with the existing laws,” the High Representative stressed that “respect for the rule of law is a prerequisite for any modern society” and is not an “a la carte option.”
The Constitutional Court's decisions are final and binding and must be respected on the entire territory, said the Austrian diplomat.
“Commemorating the RS Day in a manner that insults or intimidates other citizens, including returnee communities, is beyond comprehension and must be sanctioned by the competent judicial authorities,” he added.
But, Inzko also warned about the “frequent false representations” of the status of both the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its entities.
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“False claims about the statehood of Republika Srpska will therefore be reported to the UN Security Council,” he announced, referring to the statements by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who called the entity he represents a state during the speech delivered on January 9.
“The Constitution clearly defines Bosnia and Herzegovina as a State “consisting” of two Entities, the Federation of BiH and the Republika Srpska. It is not composed of two entities as repeatedly and wrongly claimed,” said the High Representative, who is also the main interpreter of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which contains the State Constitution.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is an internationally recognised state, he stressed, whose sovereignty and territorial integrity is guaranteed by the General Framework Agreement for Peace, the Constitution and the international law – “everything that entities are not.”
