CVIJANOVIĆ: BiH AT CROSSROADS 30 YEARS AFTER DAYTON

ZAGREB, DECEMBER 12 /SRNA/ – Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović stated that, thirty years after the Dayton Agreement, BiH is at a crossroads, either officeholders sit down and reach an agreement, or they allow the situation to collapse, because it certainly is collapsing.

Cvijanović said that the Dayton Agreement has two dimensions — the peace dimension, and the fact that it established the constitutional-legal framework and political system of BiH, which was meant to ensure equality, protect identities, and allow each people to realize its goals without endangering others. She noted that numerous foreign interventions and local political ambitions have led to a distorted picture, in which everyday life we have it one way, while the Constitution says something entirely different. Speaking at the international conference “30 Years After Dayton: Seeking Local Solutions,” held in Zagreb, Cvijanović pointed out that the High Representative in BiH has imposed a large number of laws, having no confirmation of the parliament whatsoever. "The second important issue that must be addressed thirty years after Dayton is something that also strips the country of sovereignty and independence, the fact that the BiH Constitutional Court includes three foreign judges who form a voting bloc with two judges from one ethnic group, outvoting the others. This creates an absurd situation in which the Constitutional Court is not a protector but takes on the role of creator of constitutional solutions," she said. Cvijanović pointed out to the core problem - the absence of dialogue. According to her, BiH today possesses only territorial integrity; it lacks sovereignty, it has a foreigner who believes he can substitute the capacities of domestic institutions, and it has no independence. Cvijanović said that BiH can exist only if there is an agreement among the three constituent peoples, and that the messages coming from the new U.S. administration are encouraging, that BiH’s future should be built on the agreement.