The federal and consociational system strengthens European and global security by preventing the complete domination of Islamist politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina, states the 33rd report of Republika Srpska submitted to the UN Security Council.
The report emphasizes that the Constitution of BiH contains provisions that limit power and ensure the representation of the interests of the two autonomous entities and three constituent peoples of BiH.
This system not only preserves peace and stability among the peoples in BiH, but also protects the security of BiH and Europe by preventing any radical party—Islamist or otherwise—from concentrating full power.
“Given that Bosniaks constitute the majority of the population in BiH, unconstitutional centralization of the state results in the concentration of power in the hands of Bosniak political parties, including those with an Islamist orientation,” the eighth section of the report of the Government of Republika Srpska reads.
The Government of Republika Srpska pointed out that there are powerful political forces in BiH sympathetic to jihadism, and that the largest Bosniak political party is explicitly Islamist in orientation.
On the other hand, the report notes that Republika Srpska has strong relations with European security agencies and maintains close cooperation with them through Eurojust.
The document recalls that this month the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska participated in a successful international operation via Eurojust, which resulted in the dismantling of a major arms trafficking network.
“Republika Srpska also enjoys close cooperation with the U.S. military and other agencies of the United States in the fields of security, intelligence, the fight against high-tech crime and terrorism—cooperation it does not have with any other major power,” the report highlights.
It adds that U.S. military personnel have been present in Republika Srpska for many years, training its police forces and participating in joint exercises as part of anti-terrorism initiatives.
“The Pentagon can confirm the high level of cooperation between the personnel of Republika Srpska and the U.S. on these initiatives. Similarly, the U.S. intelligence community can confirm the strong and ongoing cooperation between Republika Srpska and the Central Intelligence Agency,” the document adopted by the Government of Republika Srpska states.
The report further notes that Republika Srpska has established similar forms of cooperation with numerous other NATO and EU member states.
Despite this close cooperation, the Government emphasizes that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has done everything it could to portray Republika Srpska as an adversary, pursuing a counterproductive policy of sanctioning every official of Republika Srpska who dared to defend the rights of Republika Srpska within the constitutional framework of BiH and the rights of BiH citizens to govern their own country.
“The Biden administration has also done everything to exclude Republika Srpska from access to key sources of international financing, inflicting serious economic damage. Moreover, the Biden administration failed to recognize the fundamental importance of BiH’s constitutional structure,” the report states.
It adds that the previous U.S. administration inexplicably adopted a policy of further undermining BiH’s constitutional structure in favor of a centralized majority-rule system, in which Serbs and Croats would be further marginalized while Bosniak parties assumed full power.
Republika Srpska expresses hope in the report that the administration of President Donald Trump will reject the counterproductive policies of the Biden administration regarding BiH and support the Dayton Agreement.
“Republika Srpska also expresses hope that other countries will recognize the harmfulness and counterproductivity of sanctions. Republika Srpska welcomes this opportunity to renew a partnership with the United States and to improve relations with other members of the international community,” the eighth section of the report to the UN Security Council concludes.
Source: RTRS
