DECLARATION FROM PAN-SERBIAN ASSEMBLY ADOPTED BY TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY

BANJA LUKA, JULY 2 /SRNA/ - The Republika Srpska National Assembly adopted today the Declaration on the Protection of National and Political Rights and the Common Future of the Serbian People, along with the conclusions related to this document from the Pan-Serbian Assembly held in Belgrade.

The Declaration was supported by 62 MPs, three were against, and none abstained out of the 65 present, representing a two-thirds majority. The conclusions, signed by the heads of the parliamentary Caucuses of all parties based in Srpska, except for the "For Justice and Order" Caucus, were supported by 62 MPs, two were against, and one abstained out of the 65 present. The Speaker of the Republika Srpska National Assembly Nenad Stevandić said that a compromise was found regarding the conclusions on the Declaration, which was supported by 90 percent of MPs, except for the "For Justice and Order" Caucus led by Nebojša Vukanović. Stevandić expressed gratitude for the understanding shown by Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, as well as to MPs from both the ruling and opposition parties. "I hope this will be one of the documents that will significantly determine our unity on important issues and that we will have the opportunity to respond to each other's invitations to meetings, regardless of whether they are called by the ruling party, the opposition, the Republika Srpska President, or the Serb member of the BiH Presidency," Stevandić concluded. The Declaration includes 49 conclusions, positions, and goals, saying that the Pan-Serbian Assembly recognizes that the Serbian people constitute a single entity. "The Serbian people have historically had multiple states with different names and have the right to cherish their rich tradition," reads the text of the Declaration. The Pan-Serbian Assembly emphasized that Republika Srpska is a single and indivisible constitutional-legal entity that independently performs its constitutional, legislative, executive, and judicial functions in accordance with the Constitution of BiH - Annex Four of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and whose territory cannot be alienated contrary to the Constitution and laws of Republika Srpska. "The Pan-Serbian Assembly does not support the Resolution on Srebrenica, which was voted for by 84 countries in the UN General Assembly, while 109 countries were against, abstained, or did not vote. This resolution attempted to collectively blame the entire Serbian people which is unacceptable and cannot be implemented," says the Declaration. The Pan-Serbian Assembly welcomes the efforts of the leadership of the Republic of Serbia and Republika Srpska to contribute to the elucidation of historical facts regarding the events of the 1990s, especially concerning the events in Srebrenica and its surroundings from 1992 to 1995. The Declaration says that the Dayton Peace Agreement has been permanently and significantly violated despite the efforts of Republika Srpska and the Serbian constituent people, who fought to preserve the Dayton constitutional framework in BiH. It calls on all international actors to return to respecting the letter of the Dayton Peace Agreement. It is said that Serbia, in accordance with its status as a signatory of the Dayton Peace Agreement and in accordance with the authority it received from Republika Srpska by the Agreement of August 29, 1995, should internationalize the issue of the undermining of the Dayton Peace Agreement with a demand for its implementation in the form in which it was signed. "The Pan-Serbian Assembly emphasizes that BiH is not a single, unified electoral unit for the election of joint bodies and underscores that BiH is exclusively represented by a three-member Presidency based on consensus, and not by individuals usurping the authorities of the functions they perform," reads the Declaration. It adds that the All-Serbian Assembly accepts and supports the legal order established by the Dayton Peace Agreement, which provides for mechanisms to protect entities and constituent peoples through the application of the entity voting institute in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the institute for the protection of vital national interests in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, and the institute for the protection of vital entity interests in the Presidency of BiH. The Pan-Serbian Assembly notes that Republika Srpska is satisfied with the high degree of autonomy defined by the Dayton Peace Agreement and therefore insists on the essential and formal implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, as a treaty that cannot be altered unilaterally or through interventionism. The text of the Declaration says that Republika Srpska may, to the extent it deems appropriate, activate all the jurisdictions that are envisaged as entity jurisdictions under the Dayton Peace Agreement. "The Pan-Serbian Assembly condemns any disregard and violation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and democratic procedures in BiH, the imposition of laws, the outvoting of constituent peoples, the transfer of jurisdictions from the entity level to the central level, the violation of human rights and freedoms, and the guaranteed rights of the Serbian constituent people to free and independent decision-making and action within the framework of the Dayton BiH." It emphasizes that the Pan-Serbian Assembly considers the appointment of the High Representative in BiH to be inappropriate if done contrary to Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which stipulates that the consent of the contracting parties and an appropriate resolution of the Security Council are required for the appointment of the High Representative.4 The Speaker of the Republika Srpska National Assembly, Nenad Stevandić, concluded the session after the vote and scheduled its continuation for tomorrow at 10:00.