SRPSKA HAS NO INTENTION OF TAKING WHAT BELONGS TO OTHERS, BUT IT MUST DEFEND WHAT IS ITS OWN

NEVESINJE, JULY 9 /SRNA/ - Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović said that Republika Srpska has no intention of taking what belongs to others, but that it must defend what is its own, including its position regarding the Commission to Preserve National Monuments in BiH.

Cvijanović stressed that there was evidently a hidden intention within the BiH Presidency to undermine the Commission in order to bring foreigners into it and to conceal certain irregularities that had been committed within the body. "That is one dimension, while another dimension is that there is always an idea in the minds of political Sarajevo that they should outvote others," Cvijanović pointed out, stressing that representatives of Republika Srpska do not want to outvote anyone. She told reporters in Nevesinje that the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Denis Bećirović, had unilaterally forwarded to the Commission to Preserve National Monuments in BiH the decision on appointing new members, which had been adopted by outvoting. Cvijanović stressed that the Commission to Preserve National Monuments in BiH had either exhausted its mandate or could function only if it were brought within a framework of rules and standards that ensured equality for all. "If they think they can continue working with a Commission that will outvote someone, or that will introduce some new practice - expand its powers, block economic development in Republika Srpska, as they are doing in Sarajevo and Mostar by halting construction, creating problems with planning documentation and urban development plans - I must tell them: that will not happen! That will not happen in Republika Srpska!" Cvijanović said.