After the Council of the Peoples of Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity rejected amendments submitted by Bosniak representatives to the RS Law on Agricultural Land, Bosniak members of the body warned that the law would enable the entity to take ownership of BiH state property.

“This law opens the possibility to transfer the ownership of state property from the municipality to the ownership of the RS. This is expressly prohibited by the decisions of High Representative Christian Schmidt,” said Bosniak representative, Faruk Djozic, after the Thursday session.

He told N1 that the outcome of sessions like this one is common practice in the Serb-majority entity.

“The session ended as it always ends. Our amendment to the proposed Law on Agricultural Land of the RS did not receive support from the Club of Serbs and the Club of Others in the Council of Peoples of the RS,” he said.

Djozic said he expects that the amendments will also be rejected by other institutions, including the RS Constitutional Court, arguing that those institutions are under the control of the ruling party in the entity.