Republika Srpska adopts declaration demanding immediate closure of OHR

The draft document was submitted by the Speaker of the entity parliament, Nenad Stevandic, during the 19th regular session. In the adopted Declaration, the NSRS, acting as the highest authority of Republika Srpska, which is cited as a contracting party to Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, addresses an official request to the United Nations Security Council for the urgent adoption of a resolution to terminate the mandate of the High Representative and permanently close his office in Bosnia.

The text of the Declaration states that Annex 10 is an international treaty through which the contracting parties temporarily, and under strictly defined conditions, entrusted certain functions of domestic authorities to the international community, specifically to the High Representative. However, the NSRS claims that a gross violation of this annex has occurred over the years.

"A material breach of its provisions has occurred, namely by disregarding the will and failing to seek the consent of the contracting parties in the appointment procedures of the High Representative, as well as through the extra-contractual and unlawful expansion of his powers via the so-called Bonn powers. The authorities of Republika Srpska actively protest against this, and the National Assembly of RS demands that all contracting parties urgently eliminate all consequences of the legally null and void acts resulting from their use," the statement reads.

The document particularly problematizes the status of the current High Representative, Christian Schmidt, asserting that with the assumption of office by the German diplomat in 2021, against the will of RS and without explicit confirmation from the UN Security Council, a "final and complete disruption of the contractual regime" took place.

"Christian Schmidt does not represent the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and has no right to exercise functions within the competence of domestic authorities. All acts, especially legislative ones, adopted by Christian Schmidt have no legal force within the legal order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and represent absolutely null and void acts of foreign interventionism," the adopted Declaration states.

The parliament further adds that the past actions of the OHR, primarily the imposition of decisions bypassing the democratic will of the people, have deepened political divisions, undermined trust among the constituent peoples, and weakened the development of domestic institutions.

In the conclusion of the Declaration, the NSRS demands an immediate end to the practice of lawmaking by unelected foreign officials and a complete return of competences to domestic institutions in accordance with the Original Dayton Agreement.

According to the stance of the entity parliament, any future international presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina can only have an exclusively advisory character, with the aim of ensuring that elected political representatives assume full responsibility for managing the country's processes.