If Serbia and Bosnia’s Serb-majority entity, Republika Srpska (RS), would be building three hydropower plants on the river Drina which they agreed upon without approval from Bosnia’s state institutions, that would violate the country’s Constitution, the office of Bosnia’s international administrator said.

Serbia and Republika Srpska signed a joint declaration expressing their intention to construct the three plants in the upper basin of the river that runs along the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

The deal was met with criticism in Sarajevo, where officials reminded that rivers and other natural resources belong to the state and not to entities, describing the agreement as illegal.

Bosnia’s two entities do have the right to sign agreements with neighbouring countries under certain conditions, those agreements must be in line with the Constitution and the rulings of the Constitutional Court, the Office of the High Representative (OHR), Valentin Inzko, said on Wednesday.

“Activities concerning this project, as it was presented in the media, seemingly raise an issue from a court case which found that waters, as a public resource that includes rivers and riverbeds, is considered state property which falls under the jurisdiction of the state,” the OHR said.

“It’s within the competency of the Constitutional Court to rule on disputes concerning this issue, and we call on the competent institutions to determine whether the interests of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been respected in this case,” the statement said.