POPOVIĆ: THOSE WHO WANT UNITARY BiH WILL NOT STOP UNTIL DAYTON AGREEMENT IS DISMANTLED

BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 21 /SRNA/ – Serbia's Minister without portfolio Nenad Popović told SRNA that those who seek a unitary BiH, the same wartime goal from 1992, will not stop until the Dayton Agreement is, through direct violations or deliberate misinterpretations, dismantled beyond recognition.

"That will be the greatest challenge for Serbs in the times to come, and new generations must prepare for that institutional and international struggle," Popović said, marking 30 years since the Dayton Agreement. Popović, who is responsible for international economic cooperation and the position of the church in Serbia and abroad, stressed that international law has been violated most severely against the Serb people, with the aim of weakening them and breaking their state-building strength and will, both in the case of Kosovo and Metohija and in the implementation of the Dayton Agreement. He noted that the Dayton Agreement has been altered without the consent of its guarantors and signatories, against the will of one of BiH's constituent peoples, through distorted interpretations of its provisions, especially its annexes, as well as through pressure on the leadership of Republika Srpska that even resulted in unlawful dismissals, and even arrest,s of democratically elected officials. "The stripping of Republika Srpska's competencies in the area of defense, the creation of judicial institutions at the central level not recognized by Dayton, and the removal of key fiscal authorities from Banja Luka are the true causes of the crisis in BiH that lasts for three decades," Popović said. He emphasized that the Dayton Agreement was a compromise that acknowledged the broader interests of the Serb people across the former Yugoslavia, recalling that the property ownership of Serbs and of the Serbian Orthodox Church far exceeded the percentage of territory allocated to Republika Srpska under the agreement. "However, although for us, the Serbs, the present-day, Dayton-based Republika Srpska was a compromise, made to secure peace and the survival of our people, for many of the international guarantors of BiH, as well as for certain nations within it, the existence of Republika Srpska was merely a necessary evil, a means to establish peace and a transitional stage toward their ultimate goal - a unitary BiH," Popović stated. According to him, Republika Srpska represents the unwavering freedom-loving and state-building will of the Serb people to live in freedom and to have institutions that guarantee their lives, peace, and the right to preserve and practice their religion, tradition, and culture. Popović added that the same international actors who once pursued the policy of "a weak Serbia, a strong Yugoslavia" have long believed that the weaker the Serbs are, the stronger BiH will be. "Over the past thirty years, despite enormous pressure under which some individuals have faltered, the leadership of Republika Srpska, supported by its people, has succeeded in preserving the vital competencies that guarantee the survival and sustainability of Republika Srpska," Popović stated. He stressed that in a rapidly changing world, one becoming a world of empires, where no rules exist except the interests of the most powerful, Serbs must realistically assess their own capabilities and strengths and find allies among the emerging powers. Popović said that Russia, a signatory and guarantor of the Dayton Agreement, has been the most consistently engaged in advocating its strict implementation and remains a crucial voice of support on the international stage. "All doors in Moscow are always open for Republika Srpska," Popović emphasized. Regarding the United States, Popović said that the positions of the new American administration concerning respect for the Dayton Agreement are encouraging. "The positions of the Republicans, who advocate for the rights of all three constituent peoples, differ greatly from previous Democratic administrations which, aside from bombing us, strongly favored Sarajevo and supported various forms of violations of the Dayton Agreement," Popović said. According to him, in today's complex and tense relations among the guarantors of Dayton, as well as their conflicting interests, Republika Srpska and its leadership must, while cooperating with all sides, find an optimal space for their own development within the framework of the Dayton Agreement and its annexes. Popović stated that the first support, most important ally, and key anchor for Republika Srpska in that struggle must always remain Serbia and its leadership. "Serbia, led by President Aleksandar Vučić, who has defined a patriotic policy toward Republika Srpska, has proven through concrete acts of assistance and support, in the fields of economy, culture, and international affairs, that Banja Luka and the entire Serb people can rely on their motherland even when no one else supports them, and when a strong voice of Serb unity is needed in the fight for the inalienable rights of Republika Srpska," Popović said. The General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH, better known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, was reached on November 21, 1995 at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, and formally signed on December 14 that same year in Paris. In the years following its signing, under pressure from the OHR and the BiH Constitutional Court, a significant number of Republika Srpska's competencies were taken away and transferred to the BiH level.