CVIJANOVIĆ: POLITICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES MUST BE UNRAVELED BEFORE THE EUROPEAN PATH

BANJA LUKA, DЕCEMBER 17 /SRNA/ - Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željka Cvijanović stated that Republika Srpska has nothing against the European path and reforms, but that numerous political and legal issues must first be unraveled, primarily the imposition of laws by an illegitimate foreign official.

"Things must be put in their proper place, and then there will be no problems with any laws," Cvijanović said. If matters are not properly arranged and problems are not identified, Cvijanović noted, there is no salvation for Bosnia and Herzegovina as it currently exists. "There are no shortcuts here. Every solution imposed hastily has come back like a boomerang, damaging the state rather than improving it. Today we live in chaos, and what is the point of playing games like this instead of putting things in order," Cvijanović asked. She emphasized that there is a roadmap that could help resolve these issues, adding that, when it comes to the judiciary, some form of the former structural dialogue could be an option. "When it comes to other areas, it is necessary to understand that there is a Constitution and constitutional competences, and it is necessary to rehabilitate the coordination mechanism. This is possible-decentralized states have managed to do it. Why does BiH fail? Because you have interference by unelected foreigners, without any mandate, who interfere in every possible way in the institutional, electoral and political life of BiH," Cvijanović stressed. Speaking about other tasks awaiting BiH on its European path, she said that harmonizing legislation with the EU acquis has been a constant activity in Republika Srpska for some 20 years. "The National Programme for Integration has its difficulties. To draft it, you must understand who is responsible for what, which line institutions are competent to carry out specific activities," Cvijanović explained, noting that there are already certain discrepancies regarding the acceptance of facts about which level of government implements which activities. According to her, there can be a single coordination point, but there cannot be someone who usurps authority. Regarding the laws on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council /HJPC/ of BiH and the amendments to the Law on the Court of BiH, Cvijanović said they will be ready only when the institutions of Republika Srpska fully agree with them. Referring to the fact that the opposition from Republika Srpska in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH proposed its own version of these laws, Cvijanović assessed that they are trying to gain some benefit. "I am afraid they will further complicate matters if they continue in this way. Essentially, they do not know what the envisaged measures and traps on that path are, and I fear they will overplay their hand. That is their political game. They have a collaborator in /Elmedin/ Konaković and the Bosniak parties in Sarajevo. They have made such an arrangement, and those parties praise them at every opportunity," Cvijanović said, who is also a vice president of SNSD. She stressed that SNSD has nothing against the opposition completing this task as they see fit, but that it is a misguided undertaking. Regarding the appointment of the chief negotiator of BiH with the EU, Cvijanović noted that there are political obstacles there as well. "From political Sarajevo, we heard what they say-who could be appointed, who could not, whom they would like, that it cannot be someone from SNSD. They have raised the bar too high and will have to crawl under it themselves; they will not be able to jump over it. We let them work as they see fit, even though we know they will hit a wall," Cvijanović told Radio Republika Srpska. Commenting on attempts for the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to appoint the chief negotiator, Cvijanović said that everywhere else this task is tied to the executive branch, and in BiH that is the Council of Ministers.