JOVANOVIĆ: I EXPECT DECISION TO ABOLISH THE OHR

BELGRADE, MAY 11 /SRNA/ - Diplomat Živadin Jovanović says he expects the OHR to be abolished at tomorrow’s the UN Security Council’s session on BiH, which is being held under new geopolitical circumstances.

He stresses that Christian Schmidt’s decisions should be declared null and void because the basis of his activities in BiH is illegal and contrary to the decisions of the UN Security Council and the Dayton Peace Agreement. Jovanović told SRNA that, apart from Germany and several other countries that feel affected by recent global developments, the international community recognises Schmidt’s destructive role in BiH. "He has been illegitimate as high representative from the very beginning, not just from today," Jovanović added. He also pointed out that foreign judges must be removed from the Constitutional Court of BiH because their role is absurd and contrary to the principles of democracy, independence, and non-interference by outside factors in a country’s internal affairs. "Foreign judges have no place in judicial institutions, just as they have no place in the state and constitutional system of BiH. The fate of BiH, its development and functioning, are exclusively the concern of the constituent peoples, who have their constitutionally guaranteed powers and responsibilities regulated by the Dayton Peace Agreement and the constitutions of BiH and Republika Srpska," Jovanović stated. He emphasized that raising these issues also encourages the restoration of dozens of constitutional competencies that were taken away from Republika Srpska over the past decades. "They must be returned to Republika Srpska because this is nobody’s gift. It is what the people of Republika Srpska fought for and what the world community, not merely the international community, granted them. All of this was done against the Constitution and against the Dayton, so it must be restored to its previous state," Jovanović stressed. He added that the key factor in stripping Republika Srpska of its powers was precisely the institution of the high representative. "He is a burden, a factor that produces problems, fiction, insecurity and uncertainty, rather than a factor of normalization and the functional operation of BiH. Therefore, it would be a major step forward for the international community and the Security Council if a decision were made to abolish the position of high representative," Jovanović said. He believes that everything in BiH should be returned to the framework of the Dayton Peace Agreement, meaning that everything done contrary to the Dayton should, despite all losses and damages, be restored to its original state. The semiannual debate of the UN Security Council on the situation in BiH will be held tomorrow, and political developments and the role of international institutions are expected to be at the center of attention.