The Dayton Peace Agreement did not only bring peace to Bosnia and Herzegovina but also established a constitutional legal order, said Milan Ljepojević, president of the association Politikolog, in an interview for RTRS Morning Program.
The citizens’ association Politikolog launched the campaign “The Dayton Agreement in Every Household in Republika Srpska” on February 24, 2021, marking 25 years since the peace accord. Ljepojević explained that they realized most people — especially decision-makers — did not fully understand what the Dayton Peace Agreement actually is.
“I decided to deliver copies of the document that precisely defined the structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its two equal entities to every citizen of Republika Srpska. I believe we succeeded in delivering it to the majority of households,” Ljepojević said.
Citizens were supposed to receive three key documents:
– the Dayton Peace Agreement (the General Framework Agreement for Peace),
– Annex IV (the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina), and
– Annex X (the Agreement on Civilian Implementation of the Peace Settlement).
Reflecting on 30 years since the signing of the agreement, Ljepojević described the Serb people as both a suffering and heroic nation — one that survived genocide and fought on the winning side in both world wars.
Ljepojević stressed that the Dayton Agreement can be changed only with the consent of all three constituent peoples in BiH, including Republika Srpska. He reminded that the Peace Implementation Council does not appear anywhere in the Dayton texts, nor do the so-called “Bonn powers”.
François Sosnja, president of the Club of Delegates from the Other Peoples in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, noted that the Dayton Peace Agreement was drafted by top legal experts.
“Every word and every sentence was precisely defined. The agreement was immediately translated and published in four languages by translators who specialize in legal texts,” Sosnja said.
The General Framework Agreement for Peace remains the foundation of Republika Srpska’s existence as an equal entity.
The Dayton Peace Agreement was formally signed 30 years ago today — on December 14, 1995, at the Élysée Palace in Paris. The agreement had been initialed earlier, on November 21, 1995, at Wright-Patterson Air Base near Dayton, Ohio, bringing an end to the three-and-a-half-year war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Source: RTRS
