Bosnian Serbs adopt action plan for working in state institutions

BELGRADE, Serbia

The leader of Republika Srpska (RS) said Monday that senior Serb officials had adopted an action plan for working in state institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Milorad Dodik's remarks came after representatives of political parties in the RS National Assembly (NSRS) met in the administrative capital of the entity, Banja Luka, to sign a declaration on the longstanding controversial immovable property law.

The officials signed a statement containing the action plan and stance of Serbs working in institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dodik said the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not protect the constitution but “has destroyed it.” He said the Constitutional Court did not fulfill its basic role that it had with the Dayton Peace Agreement and “has misused that role."

"This means that the NSRS will call the judge of the BiH Constitutional Court from the RS to resign from that position,” he said.

He said the protection of the Dayton position of Republika Srpska, one of the two political entities making up Bosnia and Herzegovina, will be discussed in the National Assembly on April 26.

Bosniak member of the Presidency Council Denis Becirovic slammed the declaration on social media.

"Entities are not states and will never be any states. Milorad Dodik and his partners in his organized group must stop their dangerous attempts to violate international and national law,'' said Becirovic.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Constitutional Court repealed a controversial immovable property law in the RS entity in early March.

The court's ruling came after the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina suspended the law a day before it was expected to take effect on Feb. 28.

Previously, the Constitutional Court ruled that the management authority of public properties belongs to the entity and property rights belong to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The high representative has the authority to dismiss anyone who interferes with peace implementation in the country, including members of the Presidential Council, and to pass laws as necessary.

Arguing that the immovable properties belong to the entities according to the Dayton Peace Treaty, which ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, RS said the administration of the properties is also its own under the said law.