If the illegal, self-proclaimed High Representative Christian Schmidt imposes the 2025 budget, it will be further proof that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a sovereign country, stated Radomir Lukić, professor at the Faculty of Law in Pale, in an interview for Radio Republike Srpska.
He reminded that fiscal sovereignty is a vital element of overall state sovereignty and emphasized that those claiming to be the guardians of Bosnia and Herzegovina are in fact the ones undermining it.
“Fiscal and budgetary sovereignty are essential elements of any sovereign and independent state. This means that its institutions—constitutional on the one hand and enjoying the full confidence of its citizens expressed through elections on the other—legitimate institutions, in other words—must be the ones to adopt all acts related to the budget,” Lukić stressed.
He recalled that only the Presidency can propose the budget, and only the Parliamentary Assembly has the authority to adopt it—no one else.
“That is how things work in a state that respects itself. However, it’s clear that this time, major financial and political interests have interfered in the budget process, primarily relating to the procurement of equipment to be used in elections. I am convinced that lobbying is behind this and that the purchase of scanners has become more important than anything else funded from the BiH budget,” Lukić emphasized.
He added that, on the other hand, there is obstruction by those institutions that allegedly want Bosnia and Herzegovina to be sovereign.
“They are constantly pushing it into the hands of foreigners and into the hands of what is called the High Representative. As is well known, the current individual who wants to sit in the High Representative’s chair cannot legally do so because he was not appointed according to the procedure used for previous High Representatives,” said Lukić.
He concluded that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereign rights are being undermined precisely by those who allegedly want it to be sovereign, independent, and autonomous.
Source: RTRS
