The Declaration of the All-Serbian Assembly on the Protection of National and Political Rights and the Common Future of the Serbian People (with 49 conclusions) was adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska at a session held on July 2 in Banja Luka with 62 votes in favor, while only three deputies were against. The Declaration, previously adopted at the All-Serbian Assembly held on June 8 in Belgrade (with the obligation to be verified by the national assemblies of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska), stated that the Serbian people are a unique whole, and a series of conclusions directly related to the Republic of Srpska. Among the most important are certainly the non-recognition of the illegitimate High Representative, insisting on the name Serbs without prefixes like “Bosnian Serbs,” and the most vital conclusion for Srpska is that the letter of the Dayton Agreement must be respected.
AGREEMENT ON SEPARATION
Peaceful separation (from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) is not mentioned in the Declaration, but it is a document that represents an “agreement on separation in BiH.” The document was announced by the President of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, as a response to orchestrated political attacks that are permanently coming from Sarajevo and Western centers of power. The UN General Assembly Resolution on the Genocide in Srebrenica, initiated from Sarajevo without respecting the constitutionally prescribed legal regulations, i.e., bypassing the Serbian factor in BiH, was evidently the trigger for dissatisfaction. While the holding of the All-Serbian Assembly was supported by the US Ambassador to Belgrade, Christopher Hill, the announcement of “separation” is viewed quite differently from Western embassies.
The mentioned document, after being adopted by the National Assembly of Srpska at the 14th special session planned for July 9, would be sent for consideration to the Assembly of the Federation of BiH, i.e., the assembly of the other entity. The Agreement on Peaceful Separation was prepared by a Commission appointed by the Government of the Republic of Srpska. Its full title is “Agreement on the Need to Initiate the Procedure for Regulating Relations between the Republic of Srpska and the FBiH in accordance with the Dayton Agreement and international acts,” and it has already been submitted to the Collegium of the National Assembly of Srpska and should be presented to the deputies at the scheduled 14th special session. The legal part was prepared by members of the Commission led by Miloš Bukejlović, Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister of Srpska, Milimir Govedarica, Attorney General of the Republic of Srpska, Lazar Stjepanović, Legal Representative of Srpska, Jelena Pajić Baštinac, Secretary General in the Cabinet of the President of RS, and Dalibor Panić, Secretary General of the Government. The part of the agreement on the functioning of the economy and taxes was prepared by Goran Maričić, Director of the Tax Administration. Dragan Stanković, Director of the Republic Administration for Geodetic and Property-Legal Affairs, worked on the part of the agreement related to territorial and border issues of Srpska, Siniša Karan, Minister of Interior, was responsible for proposing the functioning of the security system of the Republic. Competent people from the state administration of Srpska were engaged in the preparation of the document, which President Dodik claims is “based on the Dayton Peace Agreement because the Dayton Agreement stipulates that the Republic of Srpska is a signatory party, just as the Federation is.”
MURPHY’S DREAMS
Dodik emphasized that “the joint level will not be included here. It has nothing to do with this; it is derived from the two entities. And everything that happens in BiH precisely aims to favor that story about joint, or central, as Muslims like to say, bodies.” While President Dodik highlights that the Agreement on Peaceful Separation is in accordance with the Dayton Peace Agreement and that nothing beyond Dayton is being sought, US Ambassador to BiH, Michael Murphy, emphasizes that it poses a threat to US interests and that BiH is facing “the worst political climate since the 1990s.”
Furthermore, the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska would, at the proposal of the SNSD parliamentary club, adopt the “Information on the Need to Initiate the Procedure for Regulating Relations between the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of BiH in accordance with the Dayton Agreement and international acts,” a 50-page document, and part of the Information is the 15-article Separation Agreement. The Information is a broader document explaining the need for the Separation Agreement, stemming from the anti-Dayton actions of the High Representative for BiH and the Constitutional Court of BiH, which constitutes the first two chapters of the Information. The All-Serbian Assembly and the conclusions adopted in the Declaration derived from it are the starting point of the mentioned Information.
THROWN GAUNTLET
The first article of the Separation Agreement states that the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e., “the signatory parties, which make up Bosnia and Herzegovina, will mutually respect the subjectivity of state law, in accordance with the status of the contracting parties and signatories of all annexes of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Article 2 states that “the only optimal legal framework for the existence of BiH is the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH, especially Annex IV – the Constitution of BiH, fundamentally and extensively changed without the will of the parties,” which represents the first “thrown gauntlet” to the other signatory party.
Article 7 is the “second thrown gauntlet” and states that “after the peaceful separation, the parties will function sovereignly in accordance with the legal tradition maintained by the Republic of Srpska since January 9, 1992, when it was proclaimed, and the tradition maintained by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina since March 18, 1994, when it was formed by the Washington Agreement.” Further (Article 10) states that the parties “after the completion of the peaceful separation will sign the Agreement on Special and Parallel Relations between the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim of developing mutual cultural, sports, scientific, and other cooperation.” The Agreement on Dual Citizenship of the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also foreseen (Article 11), as well as a customs union “which will function in the transitional period,” which should last “three years from the ratification of the Agreement.” The signatories of this document are foreseen to be the Prime Minister of RS Radovan Višković and the Prime Minister of FBiH Nermin Nikšić.
THE ACT IS NOT SEPARATIST
The “Information on the Need to Initiate the Procedure for Regulating Relations between the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of BiH in accordance with the Dayton Agreement and international acts,” as well as the Separation Agreement, have already been published in the media of the Federation of BiH and have caused strong reactions. Christian Schmidt sent a letter to Nenad Stevandić, the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska. During the session, from the Bosniak side, there were qualifications that the “Declaration itself is a continuation of Serbia’s policy of territorial pretensions towards Bosnia and Herzegovina and primarily represents Serbia’s intention and commitment to abandon the Dayton Peace Agreement in the future.” Milorad Dodik, the President of Srpska, emphasized during the session that this is not a separatist act but an attempt at dialogue. “We are trying to propose, to say, let’s return to the original Dayton,” he emphasized.
There is a whole week until the session of the National Assembly where the Separation Agreement will be discussed, which provides enough time for dialogue on returning to the original, i.e., the letter of the Dayton Agreement, which constitutes the strategy of the political efforts of the Republic of Srpska.
POLITICS ON THE EDGE OF A KNIFE
The Agreement on Peaceful Separation is indeed a valuable attempt in creating an atmosphere of the necessity of respecting the Dayton Agreement and returning the taken competencies. An ad hoc decision on separation could be interpreted as the independence of the Republic of Srpska and would encounter strong reactions from Western powers and partners from the Federation of BiH, and “activating all competencies” and initiating peaceful separation would be used both from the West and Sarajevo to endanger the current Dayton status of Srpska and its international position.
Milorad Dodik knows what he is doing. He is a brave man. On numerous occasions, he has emphasized that he is ready to sacrifice himself for his people and the Republic of Srpska. He has also proven to be an excellent tactician and in many situations from which no one but him saw a way out, he was right. He has known how to lead politics riskily, on the edge of a knife, and succeeded. This time too, he is confident, as only he can be. He has thrown the gauntlet not only to the other entity but also to the Collective West: Either strict respect for Dayton or nothing (from BiH)!
