Author: Dragan Dakić
Before the UN Security Council, something recently occurred that resembles diplomatic satire: in the same session, the President of Republika Srpska and the Bashkan of Gagauzia found themselves discussing matters.
The closest I am called “Gagi.” It seems that it’s the same as Gagauz? Honestly, it’s not easy for those Gagauz people. Fate has assigned them the task of convincing themselves and others, in their native Turkish language, that they are not a Turkish people, which confuses many. I believe them and know how painful this confusion can be. I remember when workers at doner kebab restaurants politely greeted my colleagues with “Guten Tag,” while they warmly greeted me with “Selamun Aleykum!” My Mexican colleague was often jealous that, in the race for a more universal identity, his darker complexion lost to my joined eyebrows, which adorned almost every meat carver across the counter. He and other contenders for a wider acceptance definitely capitulated when we noticed that women in headscarves greeted only me on all occasions. With a shy smile when their faces were visible but with a deep look straight into the eyes.
This whole identity confusion, of course, weighed heavily on me. I shouted angrily to myself: “Eyebrows are Serb from fierce Krajina!” Therefore, I can with authority conclude how it is for our Orthodox Gagauz brothers. That’s why I shout for the suffering brothers: “The Gagauz Turkish language is not a Gagauz identity!” It’s tough among them, especially those with connected eyebrows, if they exist. A moment of silence for them.
Gagauzia and Republika Srpska Before the UN Security Council
It seems to me that the confusion between Gagi – Gagauz is becoming collective and universal. Recently, something happened in the UN Security Council protocol that, had it not been officially documented, would fit as diplomatic satire: the issues of Gagauzia and Republika Srpska were discussed in the same session. And this situation was caused by our president and their Bashkan. This symbolic formatting – “two problems, one session” – reflects all the irony of the status of Republika Srpska, which, unlike the Gagauz administrative unit, has everything needed to be a legal subject – except ______________.
Let us recall: Gagauzia is an autonomous territorial unit within the unitary state of Moldova, created in 1994 based on the internal law of the Moldovan parliament (“Law on the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia”). Its status is not a matter of international law nor is it recognized or guaranteed by any international treaty. Just as it was granted status by a majority vote in the Moldovan parliament, it can also be revoked. The existence of Gagauzia depends exclusively on the political will of Chișinău.
On the other hand, Republika Srpska was won on the battlefield and recognized at Dayton. Republika Srpska is a state-building entity with a constitution and constitutional status within the complex state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, created by Annex IV of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which is an international treaty. The status of Republika Srpska is not a political category, it does not depend on the political will from Sarajevo, but is a legal fact with international legal effects. And that is the tragic irony of this parody.
Equated Without Basis – But Not Without Reason
In law and history, there is no basis to consider Gagauzia and Republika Srpska in the same context and capacity. After all, the Bashkan violated the internal law of Moldova, for which exclusively Moldovan courts are competent, as all states on the planet would agree. Moreover, there is hardly a complex state that has not condemned its regional leaders with general approval. However, unlike the Bashkan and other regional leaders, the president of Republika Srpska represents a party in an international treaty, and crucially: his actions were undertaken in that capacity, in accordance with international law. Signing remedial instruments from the Vienna Convention, which suspend part of an international treaty, can only be a subject of international dispute between the parties to the Dayton Peace Agreement, and the BiH Court has no jurisdiction over this.
It would be interesting if the defense at least attempted this. Instead, the defense of the president was methodologically identical to the defense of the Bashkan – solely based on domestic criminal law, regardless of the status and factual differences. In this way, the subject of international law has rendered itself into the object of the law.
Legal Status Without Legal Awareness
Strong legal awareness was the cause of the rise and power of the Roman Empire to the greatest empire, says the famous Greek historian Dionysius (Διονύσιος Ἁλικαρνασσεύς). The lack of legal awareness was the cause of the fall of the Russian Empire, as Russian thinkers Novgorodtsev and Ilyin would teach us, if we ever asked them. Republika Srpska is unlikely to fare any better with this same deficiency, no matter who is asked. The whole issue is not that the international community equates a subject with an object at a session convened by the Russians. The tragic irony is that Republika Srpska treats itself as if it were established by law, and not by an international treaty.
Awareness of the status of Republika Srpska, its international legal foundation, does not allow our opinions and activities to be reduced to a matter of item T20 0 KT 0024163 23, in which the accused is situated as any physical person, alongside a physical person.
The process itself, especially the verdict and the related consequences, is a reason for the legal (not just political) internationalization of the dispute. Therefore, questions like: Who recognizes the verdict? Will there be elections? Who will participate in them? Who will be elected? are secondary. The primary question for Republika Srpska is whether it will fight for its international legal status with international legal instruments, or will it agree to become Gagauzified. There is no parody or geopolitics here, the event is just a reflection of the state of our awareness.
Source: Atv
