CVIJANOVIĆ: DECISION ON COMMISSION FOR PRESERVATION OF NATIONAL MONUMENTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN TREATED AS FOREIGN POLICY ISSUE; IT SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SIG

SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 2 /SRNA/ - The Serb member of the Presidency of BiH, Željka Cvijanović, stated that the Secretariat of the Presidency should have treated the decision on the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments as a foreign policy matter, rather than sending it to the Chairman, Željko Komšić, to sign, which will force her to use mechanisms to stop it.

“It is clear that this issue was pushed by Bećirović to win over the Bosniak public, rather than to resolve a concrete problem, and that Komšić succumbed to the pressure of that public and signed the decision,” Cvijanović said, after Komšić today signed the decision on the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments, which was adopted by outvoting the Serb member of the Presidency of BiH at the session on January 12. Cvijanović added that the Secretariat of the Presidency should have treated this decision as a foreign policy matter and, accordingly, submitted it to one of the upcoming sessions, namely, to a second round of voting, rather than sending it to Chairman Komšić to sign. “It is clear that this is a foreign policy issue because the Commission for National Monuments is regulated by Annex Eight of the Dayton Agreement, which is a treaty. It is also clear because the proposed decision foresees that the UNESCO Director-General nominates two members of the commission, which is also a clear element of foreign policy,” Cvijanović explained in a written statement. Since the Secretariat did not treat this decision as a foreign policy matter and Cvijanović was outvoted on the issue, she emphasized that she will be forced to use other mechanisms at her disposal to stop it at the next stage.