A lawmaker from the ruling party in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Sanja Vulic, said that neither the High Representative of the international community in Bosnia nor the Bosniak member of the tripartite BiH Presidency have “the legitimacy to change the will of the citizens of the RS” and dismiss Serb Presidency member Milorad Dodik.
Vulic’s statements come after Bosniak Presidency member, Sefik Dzaferovic, urged High Representative Christian Schmidt, the international officials overseeing the civilian implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement in BiH, to react to what he argued is an attempt of his Serb colleague in the Presidency to block the institution.
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The Presidency members met on Tuesday, and according to Dzaferovic, they failed to adopt a series of important decisions, including on security agreements with other countries, because Dodik voted against them.
Dodik’s behaviour stems from the fact that political parties in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity, where he is also the leader of the ruling party, decided that RS representatives will not participate in the work of BiH institutions over the recently introduced law on genocide denial.
Schmidt’s predecessor, Valentin Inzko, used his special powers as the officials overseeing the civilian implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement in June to impose a law banning genocide and war crimes denial, as well as glorification of convicted war criminals.
“This is a blockade of the state of BiH, so I expect the international community, the High Representative, to take action and resolve this,” Dzaferovic said.
“I expect the High Representative to help BiH function,” he said, adding this could also include dismissing Dodik.
According to Vulic, however, neither Dzaferovic nor Schmidt have the power to dismiss Dodik.
“Mr. Dzaferovic, you can only tell that guest, friend, ally, whatever Schmidt is to you, that he can do whatever he wants with you, and neither you nor he can dismiss Milorad Dodik, or anyone else. You are not the people of the Republika Srpska who alone have the right to elect their representatives, and it is up to you only to respect their electoral will,” Vulic said on Wednesday.
She said that if Dzaferovic sincerely wants the progress of BiH, he must “respect the Serbs who are a constituent people in that country, and not threaten or blackmail them.”
Vulic is a member of Dodik’s Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), which has stated multiple times that it does not accept Schmidt’s appointment in BiH.
Vulic reiterated that position, saying that Dzaferovic should not call on the High Representative because “BiH does not have one currently.”
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