Republika Srpska remains committed to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European integration, and this commitment is best demonstrated by the fact that Republika Srpska is the only level of government in BiH that, since 2009, has been systematically harmonizing its legislation with the EU acquis, states the 33rd report of Republika Srpska to the UN Security Council.
“Unfortunately, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European integration is still blocked due to the presence of an international overseer who rules by decree—something the EU itself acknowledges is incompatible with BiH’s sovereignty, and therefore, with its progress toward EU membership,” the sixth section of the report points out.
The document notes that the EU, in its Opinion on BiH’s application for membership, acknowledges that the continued presence of the High Representative with broad autocratic powers hampers BiH’s progress toward European integration.
“With regard to the High Representative, the EU Opinion states: ‘Such intensive international supervision is, in principle, incompatible with the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus with EU membership,’” the report highlights.
The report further recalls that former High Representatives have explicitly stated that the continued existence of the OHR undermines BiH’s EU path.
On the OHR, former High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch is quoted as saying: “It will not work, and you cannot join the EU with such a master making those decisions.”
The document also cites Petritsch’s statement that “every decision made by Schmidt pushes BiH away from the EU,” and that “if all foreign interventions do not stop, there will be no European future for BiH.”
Similarly, as former High Representative Carl Bildt wrote, “the continued presence of the OHR as a custodian of Dayton often dilutes the impact of EU action.” He concluded that the OHR has “gone from being part of the solution to being part of the problem.”
The report notes that BiH’s EU path is further obstructed by the blockade of Bosniak political parties regarding the implementation of a reform that would replace foreign judges in the BiH Constitutional Court with BiH citizens—a reform that is one of the 14 key priorities set by the EU for BiH.
“The largest Serb and Croat parties in BiH strongly support the replacement of foreign judges in the Constitutional Court with BiH citizens and have proposed legislation to that effect. However, Bosniak parties refuse even to consider the proposal, thereby obstructing full sovereignty and BiH’s progress toward EU membership,” the report states.
Republika Srpska also pointed out that BiH’s progress toward the EU is further hindered by the Bosniak SDA party, which is blocking the adoption of a reform program necessary for the disbursement of funds from the EU’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
The document adds that the BiH level of government, both entities, and six out of ten cantons of the Federation of BiH have already approved the reform program, but four cantons under SDA control are blocking its implementation.
Republika Srpska will continue to advocate for BiH’s progress toward EU membership, while insisting on respect for the Dayton structure of BiH, the sixth section of the report submitted to the UN Security Council concludes.
Source: RTRS
