Parties to Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, including Bosnia's Serb-majority Republika Srpska entity, have an obligation to fully cooperate with the High Representative, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) - the international peace envoy in charge of overseeing the peace implementation in the country said on Monday, stressing that “no political rhetoric or amendment to law can relieve institutions and those who work in them of this obligation.”

The peace envoy's office reacted to the announcement that Republika Srpska's entity parliament is set to consider a draft legislation that would attempt to erase the obligation to publish acts of the High Representative in the RS Official Gazette.

The High Representative, who was installed in the country after the 1992-95 war to oversee the peace process implementation and has powers to impose laws and dismiss officials, said that this draft legislation “cannot and will not accomplish its misguided goal.”

“Parties to Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, including the RS, have an obligation to fully cooperate with the High Representative. No political rhetoric or amendment to law can relieve institutions and those who work in them of this obligation,”, the OHR said, referring to one of 11 annexes to the peace agreement, which refers to the agreement on the civilian implementation i.e. the role of the High Representative in the country.

The OHR also recalled that the laws enacted by the High Representative have the same status as laws enacted by domestic parliaments and carry the same constitutional necessity for publication, regardless of any subordinate law or regulation.

“Non-publication and disrespect of the High Representative’s decisions place Republika Srpska, its institutions, and those who work in them in violation of their obligations under the General Framework Agreement for Peace. Officials who, through action or inaction, disregard their legal duties, as well as these obligations, bear personal responsibility for their decisions and the consequences of such decisions,” said the press release.

“They should be aware that they will be sailing in heavy waters”, the High Representative concluded.