The establishment of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH on October 24, 1991, was one of the most significant events in the political history of Republika Srpska, as key political and legal decisions were adopted through its work, historian Georgije Vulić told SRNA.
Vulić stressed that the establishment of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH was the result of the awareness among the Serb political and intellectual elite at the time of the need to protect the Serb people amid the breakup of Yugoslavia.
“The Serb political and intellectual elite at the time understood that, under the circumstances of Yugoslavia’s disintegration, something had to be done to protect the Serb people in BiH. This was achieved through political means, by establishing the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH,” Vulić said ahead of the upcoming marking of the 35th anniversary of the Republika Srpska National Assembly establishment.
He emphasized that the Assembly was of immense importance to the history of Republika Srpska, both during the war and in the post-war period, and that its role remains significant today.
Vulić noted that the most important political and legal acts were adopted through the Assembly’s work, including the Constitution of Republika Srpska, which was adopted on February 28, 1992.
He recalled that, by a decision of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH on May 12, 1992, the Army of Republika Srpska was also established. It played a decisive role in wartime events, in protecting the Serb population and defending Republika Srpska.
Vulić highlighted the need to distinguish between the political process that led to the creation of Republika Srpska, its defence during the war, and the international recognition of its status within BiH under the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.
According to him, these stages must be considered separately: the creation of Republika Srpska through political decisions, its subsequent defence, and finally the international validation of its status through the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.
Vulić stressed that the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH provides an opportunity to assess its role in shaping the political and legal system of Republika Srpska.
“It is important to state that Republika Srpska was established in peacetime and that the intellectual elite of the Serb people in BiH decided to take this step in order to prevent a recurrence of what had happened in Croatia,” Vulić recalled.
He noted that the Serb people in Croatia had been reduced to the status of a national minority and stressed that this should not have been allowed to happen in BiH, where Serbs, as a constituent people of the Yugoslav republic, could have been reduced to the status of a national minority in a potentially Islamic state.
“All of this was taken into account by the Serb political representatives of the time, who decided to establish the Assembly of the Serb People because they did not want to allow the Serbs to be outvoted by the other two peoples in BiH. That is why, 35 years after this event, we can testify today that the most significant political and legal acts were adopted,” Vulić said.
The National Assembly of Republika Srpska, the highest constitutional and legislative body within the governance structure of Srpska and the central institution of its parliamentary system, was established in Sarajevo on October 24, 1991, as the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH.
Source: Srpska National
