RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL DAYTON - THE HIGH REPRESENTATIVE CANNOT BE ABOVE THE PEOPLE

BELGRADE, November 16 /SRNA/ - In BiH, matters must be restored to the level of competencies defined by the Dayton Peace Agreement, which has been significantly eroded over the past three decades due to political Sarajevo, said Mitar Kovač, Director of the Euro-Asian Security Forum, in a statement to SRNA.

Kovač emphasized that forces within political Sarajevo promoting the concept of political Islam, with the aim of unitarizing BiH, have played the greatest role in undermining the Dayton Agreement. They have been strongly supported by external power centers, including the High Representative, who, through the violent imposition of decisions, acted arbitrarily with the backing and pressure of leading European powers as well as NATO, Kovač added. He said these forces sought to centralize the country by empowering high representatives, who then gradually and forcibly stripped Republika Srpska of the competencies guaranteed to it under Dayton. Joint BiH institutions - primarily the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the Constitutional Court - were then involved in this effort. According to Kovač, external actors and political Sarajevo relied on these four instruments of power to target all those who refused to resolve matters through coercion and imposition. Once the BiH Court, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the BiH Constitutional Court were engaged, Kovač said, every individual and political organization that did not wish to participate in dismantling the competencies of Republika Srpska was prosecuted. Kovač stated that Republika Srpska can return to the original Dayton framework if political actors achieve unity and, together with the people, persist in restoring Dayton competencies. He believes this is possible, especially due to the support of global powers such as Russia and China, as well as the fact that the United States now appears to understand better than the biased European states the role and arbitrariness of the High Representative and the methods used to enforce his authority. "If his powers are changed and he is no longer allowed to operate the way he has until now, the peoples of BiH, with a bit of goodwill, can resolve their problems themselves. Solutions cannot be imposed, and the high representative cannot remain a permanent institution standing above the people of Republika Srpska, the Federation of BiH, and BiH as a whole," Kovač said. He reminded that many leaders of Srpska were removed through force, beginning with former Republika Srpska President Nikola Poplašen. "That violence nearly led to the essential dismantling of Republika Srpska in terms of property, competencies, and constitutional authority," Kovač said, adding that after such a long period, matters have reached a point where they must be reset and returned to the competencies defined by the Dayton Agreement. Once that is achieved, Kovač noted, discussions about the future of BiH can be held more responsibly. He added that the biggest problem lies in the fact that Bosniaks interpret BiH as their exclusive state, while Republika Srpska - and even Croats in their cantons - are treated as mere tenants of their own land, territory, and property. "That is why the issue of property is the turning point and the key question. Republika Srpska insists on this, and no High Representative can change it," Kovač concluded.