Radovan Kovačević, a delegate of the Serb People’s Caucus in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, stated in an interview with RTRS that the secession of Republika Srpska has never been on the agenda, but the preservation of the Dayton Agreement, as well as the position and constitutional capacity of Srpska based on that agreement, has always been and will continue to be.
- “If we had known that the opposition was in favor of secession for Republika Srpska, perhaps we would have acted differently, but this is the first time we are hearing such a thing; we have never heard anything like this from them. We constantly emphasize that those who wish harm to Republika Srpska and aim to intervene against it talk about Srpska being on a path toward secession. We consistently say that there is no plan for secession. You can find hundreds of statements from the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik and from us who represent Srpska where we state that secession is not planned or on the agenda,” Kovačević emphasized.
He mentioned that representatives of Republika Srpska must respond to the dismantling and devastation of the Dayton Agreement, as well as to attempts to persistently strip Srpska of its guaranteed constitutional rights and jurisdictions based on that agreement.
- “In this context, we talk about various solutions, but we have never used the word secession. Secession is a unilateral act when you ignore others and declare that you will make decisions on your own. We have never said that; we have constantly called for dialogue and sent numerous initiatives for dialogue among the parties in BiH, which, according to the Dayton Agreement, are Republika Srpska, the Federation of BiH, and the three equal constituent peoples, and we will continue to do so in the future,” Kovačević stressed.
He pointed out that the problem with opposition parties in Republika Srpska is that they, as he says, have no solutions and that no one knows what their policies are.
- “Everyone knows our stance – our policy is a strong and stable Republika Srpska where citizens live well, Republika Srpska first and foremost, and we will never give up on that. As for the opposition, nothing is known. They claim that Republika Srpska has been left half-empty under Dodik. It hasn’t; what’s empty is the SDS, the PDP, a completely divided opposition, while Republika Srpska remains strong and stable, and it will continue to be so in the future,” Kovačević concluded.
Source: RTRS
