Republika Srpska President Siniša Karan said that the overall situation in Republika Srpska should be viewed in terms of its strength, institutional capacities and ability to confront problems and find the best solutions.
“Generally speaking, we can say that the situation in Republika Srpska is stable politically, economically and in terms of security, and that this stability is based precisely on the stable institutions of our system,” Karan said.
He said institutional stability primarily refers to the capacity and ability of institutions to fulfill their constitutional and legal responsibilities.
Speaking about the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, Karan said it had provided legislative responses to all challenges facing Republika Srpska. At the same time, he said, the Government of Republika Srpska had found adequate responses in turbulent times through legislative initiatives and the subsequent implementation of laws.
According to Karan, Republika Srpska institutions have found solutions across all segments of society, with particular importance placed on systemic and long-term measures.
“The solutions are already visible when it comes to veterans, workers’ rights and various social rights covering all categories – women, children, school-age children and all other segments of our society,” Karan said.
Republika Srpska’s stability rests on the will of the people and Dayton
Karan said that the stability of Republika Srpska, both today and throughout more than three decades of its existence, rests on the electoral will of the people, from which its institutions derive their legitimacy.
He stressed the importance of Republika Srpska’s economic and political stability and self-sustainability, as well as preserving its constitutional and legal position within Dayton BiH.
“The fundamental principles that we want to preserve and affirm, and which I believe are the only possible ones, are parity, consensus and the division of competencies when it comes to BiH as a whole,” Karan said.
He added that Republika Srpska insists on its constitutional position, as well as on the status of the constituent peoples and the two entities.
“We can conclude that all these aspects confirm that Republika Srpska today is economically, politically and institutionally a strong and secure place,” Karan said.
US academic community increasingly hearing Republika Srpska’s arguments
Commenting on a recently published paper by American authors in a Harvard academic journal that raises questions about the effects of US engagement in BiH after Dayton, Karan said it was significant that issues Republika Srpska has raised for years are now being discussed in the American academic community.
“First of all, we must say that throughout these 30 years Republika Srpska has faced unjustified pressure and unjustified attacks,” Karan said.
He argued that Republika Srpska had repeatedly been accused of undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement despite advocating its principles and the Dayton Constitution.
According to Karan, this created a negative perception and narrative about Republika Srpska, but recent work by American authors indicates that the situation is changing.
“The key arguments of Republika Srpska, which we have been repeating for 30 years, have begun to find an audience and reach other places, including the United States, opening different perspectives on what is happening in BiH,” he said.
Karan added that international efforts by Republika Srpska officials had contributed to its arguments being heard outside BiH.
Interventionism of high representatives undermined Dayton
Commenting on criticism of the role of the Office of the High Representative published in the Harvard academic journal, Karan said these were precisely the issues Republika Srpska had been raising for years.
“We have stated that over the past 30 years, through unconstitutional and anti-Dayton actions by all high representatives, including the one who was not a high representative and who operated here uninvited and without any authority, interventionism was used in an attempt to create an anti-Dayton concept of BiH,” Karan said.
According to him, such interventionism undermined the principles of the Dayton Agreement – parity, consensus and the division of competencies – while pushing BiH toward centralization.
Karan said the fundamental political dispute in BiH over the past three decades concerned differing views on the country’s constitutional structure.
He described BiH under the Dayton Peace Agreement as federally organized with strong confederal elements.
Karan argued that international interventionism had failed to resolve the country’s problems and instead contributed to attempts to weaken the sovereignty and strength of the entities and the three constituent peoples.
Bonn Powers were invented, centralization of BiH negates Dayton
Speaking about the American authors’ position on abolishing the Bonn Powers, Karan described them as “invented powers.”
He said the Bonn Powers emerged in 1997, after the Dayton Peace Agreement, through the Peace Implementation Council, which he described as an “invented body.”
According to Karan, they were intended to provide legitimacy to a process of centralizing BiH.
He argued that the centralization of BiH represents a negation of Dayton and that advocates of a unitary civic state are directly undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement.
Karan said BiH is a multiethnic country composed of three constituent peoples and two entities, and argued that its centralization would negate the state’s constitutional structure and the Dayton Agreement itself.
Karan: High representatives’ decisions on Republika Srpska competencies are null and void
Karan also addressed the position that high representatives never had the authority to enact laws and that such acts should therefore be considered null and void.
He said Republika Srpska had recognized these processes from the outset as anti-Dayton and unconstitutional.
According to Karan, high representatives adopted more than 900 different decisions intended to change the country’s constitutional structure toward centralization.
He said the fundamental principles of modern federal states are parity, consensus and the division of competencies.
“The greatest harm caused by all high representatives through their interventions was precisely the attack on competencies. Competencies were taken away from Republika Srpska outside the constitutional procedure prescribed by Annex Four,” Karan said.
He added that the Constitution allows for additional competencies, but only with the consent of all sides, including the constituent peoples and entities.
“From a procedural, substantive, constitutional and Dayton perspective, all acts adopted by high representatives outside Annex Ten are null and void,” Karan said.
Cooperation with new US administration opens economic and political opportunities
Speaking about the possibility of stronger cooperation between Republika Srpska and the administration of US President Donald Trump, Karan told Srna that the world was changing rapidly and that the previous unipolar order no longer existed.
According to him, Republika Srpska has recognized the current geopolitical moment and is seeking opportunities to advance its interests amid global changes.
“One of these is cooperation with the new US administration, which President Milorad Dodik has been building over a longer period,” Karan said.
He said SNSD leader Milorad Dodik, Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović and acting director of the Republika Srpska Office for International Cooperation Ana Trišić Babić had made significant efforts to promote Republika Srpska’s positions.
The objective, he said, is to create favorable conditions for economic and political dialogue and cooperation.
Karan said a strong foundation had been created for Republika Srpska to further strengthen its position through talks and agreements, particularly in the economic sphere.
Infrastructure projects most visible result of cooperation with Serbia
Speaking about cooperation with Serbia, Karan said relations between Republika Srpska and Serbia are characterized by numerous historical, national and identity ties.
“We are one people. There are identity characteristics that define us as one. Fundamentally, that is what we are,” Karan said.
He referred to the declaration of the All-Serb Assembly and the Agreement on Special Parallel Relations between Republika Srpska and Serbia, covering areas including the economy, social affairs, healthcare, sports and culture.
Karan highlighted infrastructure projects as the most visible result of this cooperation.
“What is perhaps most visible and significant is the large number of infrastructure projects and facilities being built throughout Republika Srpska, as well as in the Federation of BiH where Serbs live,” he said.
He added that relations between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Milorad Dodik had contributed to making cooperation tangible for citizens through schools, bridges, roads, highways and other infrastructure projects.
Karan also praised the work of the current Republika Srpska Government led by Prime Minister Savo Minić, saying it was addressing problems directly and finding effective solutions.
Voice of Republika Srpska is being heard again around the world
Speaking about what he described as remaining misconceptions about Republika Srpska within parts of the international community, Karan said a negative narrative built over decades still persists.
According to him, those who supported interventionism by high representatives needed to create a narrative directed against Republika Srpska in order to sustain that approach.
“Thirty years later, we have reached a complete clash between Dayton and anti-Dayton concepts. Republika Srpska represents Dayton. The others represent the anti-Dayton approach,” Karan said.
He argued that the situation had changed because Republika Srpska’s arguments were now receiving greater international attention.
“It would have been unimaginable five or ten years ago to read something like what American authors are writing today, but now it has become a reality – both ours and theirs,” Karan said.
The Republika Srpska President concluded that affirming Dayton principles, Republika Srpska’s constitutional position, and the principles of constitutionality and legality represents the path for confronting what he considers unconstitutional and anti-Dayton actions.
Source: RTRS
