CVIJANOVIĆ: BiH TRAPPED IN CHRONIC CRISIS FUELED BY FOREIGN INTERVENTION

BANJA LUKA, NOVEMBER 7 /SRNA/ – The Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović stressed that the court proceedings against President Milorad Dodik were conducted unconstitutionally, and it was therefore expected that the BiH Constitutional Court would reject the appeal filed by his defense team against the verdict of the BiH Court.

"Those who started and conducted proceedings against Dodik unconstitutionally had to bring the matter to an end in the same unconstitutional way. The appeal was an excellent opportunity for the judiciary to pull itself out of the deviation and the deliberate intent we’ve witnessed over the past two and a half years during the trial, and to act in accordance with the Constitution," Cvijanović said in a podcast for the News Agency of Republika Srpska – SRNA. She emphasized that there is now a possibility of continuing the proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights and expressed hope that the procedure would begin soon. According to her, interventionism in BiH resulted in a judicial process that would not be expected or acceptable anywhere in the civilized world. "This demonstrates how a single act can trigger a series of other negative consequences, eventually trampling on the electoral will of voters and the democratic process of electing a president. Then, laws are adopted in violation of the Constitution - which is precisely what foreign interventionism represents —- and it leads to a situation where the judiciary prosecutes someone who represents Republika Srpska as one of the two entities in BiH," Cvijanović noted. She pointed out that for years "Sarajevo hysteria" has been evident, and that everything available is being misused to target Serbs, Republika Srpska, and democratically elected representatives. Cvijanović believes that BiH is in a state of chronic crisis, with each crisis being caused by the intervention of the international factor. "The crises have most often been provoked by those serving as high representatives, as well as by decisions of the BiH Constitutional Court which were not aimed at protecting the Constitution. Many observers of the situation in BiH note that everything has become politicized, including matters that should never have been contaminated by politics. All of this has been accompanied by an enormous media lynch," Cvijanović said. She assessed that, as a result, public trust in the judiciary is declining. REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FBiH RESENT INSTITUTIONAL STABILITY OF SRPSKA Cvijanović has stated that now there is room to open new issues, which would mean that everyone in BiH could "recover" from the 30 years of ongoing failure, and that a new atmosphere could be created — one in which mutual relations and dialogue would be built in accordance with the Constitution. Otherwise, she warned, "we will reach the point of total exhaustion". "I believe we need to erase the mistakes of the past and apply the many lessons we've learned in order to determine our next steps. Otherwise, there will be no salvation," Cvijanović said. In her view, the crisis in BiH has not yet reached its end, but it is a finalization of a broader process that is not only judicial. Cvijanović assessed that it is very important that representatives of Republika Srpska have managed to significantly internationalize the situation in BiH and draw attention to the fact that everything must be resolved properly. She reiterated that, unfortunately, all the negative energy from the Federation of BiH /FBiH/ has been directed towards Republika Srpska. "Political leaders from the Bosniak camp would cease to exist politically if there were no Dodik or Republika Srpska. They have no other topic - they don't talk about energy, infrastructure projects, or about raising pensions and salaries. What about education, healthcare, and all the other issues that remain unresolved in the FBiH? That's because they didn't get the state someone promised them," Cvijanović said. She reminded that the level of abuse of joint institutions is also highly visible and that everything important for Republika Srpska is being blocked. "Representatives from the FBiH are deeply bothered by the serious institutional stability of Republika Srpska. Because of its functionality, Srpska is clearly in a stronger position when it comes to internal BiH relations," Cvijanović stated. Speaking about the budget of BiH institutions for this year, Cvijanović noted that the BiH Presidency should declare its position next week on the Draft Budget adopted by the Council of Ministers. "This should be the final attempt to adopt the BiH institutions' budget for this year. The previous proposals by the other two members of the BiH Presidency had shortcomings that would have made them unenforceable. What we have now is good, because it aims to repair the damage done to employees of BiH institutions. I believe there will be enough reason for the budget to be adopted," Cvijanović said.