RESTITUTION LAW IS FIRST STEP TOWARDS RETURNING SERB PROPERTY

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, AUGUST 9 /SRNA/ – The issue of returning property belonging to Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ in Sarajevo cannot be resolved through appeals, but only through strong legal and institutional pressure, and the first step is the adoption of a restitution law in BiH, researcher and senior associate at the Institute of Historical Sciences at the University of Istočno Sarajevo Georgije Vulić said in a statement to SRNA.

"BiH has not carried out the restitution process, and it is precisely the Bosniak political elite that has obstructed its adoption for decades. Without such a law, every return of property is an exception rather than a systemic solution," Vulić believes. Vulić stressed the exceptional importance of internationalizing the issue. "The right to property is a fundamental human right, and such cases must remain a constant subject before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and in the reports of international missions, because domestic courts clearly lack the political will to respond adequately. The third key element is legal support for private owners," Vulić said. Vulić assessed that the work of the Free Legal Aid Offices established by Republika Srpska institutions must receive even stronger support in order to prevent the remaining private property from being taken through administrative fraud involving land registers in the Federation of BiH /FBiH/. BACKGROUND TO THE TAKING OF SERB PROPERTY IN SARAJEVO Vulić said that the background to such treatment of Serb property in Sarajevo rests on two key motives, the first being political and demographic, aimed at creating a false picture of the history and character of the city, and the second being economic. "While Sarajevo's political and, to a significant extent, intellectual elite formally promotes the narrative of so-called 'civic Sarajevo' and 'multiculturalism', something completely opposite is happening on the ground - the traces of Serb existence, endowments and religious life are being systematically erased. There is an attempt to suppress the clear historical fact that Serbs built Sarajevo, that they lived there for centuries as a constituent part of the city, participated in all aspects of its urban development and left an indelible cultural mark," Vulić stressed. He said that taking property and preventing Serbs from exercising control over what belongs to them directly prevents any economic recovery and the return of the Serb population to the city. "The economic motive is equally serious. We are talking about Church and private property, buildings and construction land whose value reaches billions of BAM. By unlawfully retaining, re-registering and giving this property to third parties for use, Sarajevo Canton and local municipalities are deriving direct material benefit from property that legally and historically belongs to Serbs and the SOC," Vulić explained. MORE SYSTEMATIC AND VOCAL DEMANDS FOR THE RETURN OF PROPERTY Asked whether Serbs themselves are speaking loudly and in the right way enough about what he described as the lawlessness of Sarajevo regarding their property, Vulić said that, from a professional and analytical perspective, it is evident that the issue is neither raised loudly enough nor addressed systematically enough. "Although Republika Srpska institutions, certain Serb representatives in BiH institutions and the SOC are making certain efforts, the approach so far has been predominantly reactive. Public reactions generally come only when a problem arises - such as the desecration of a cemetery, an incident involving private property or media reports about the disputed legalization of buildings on Serb-owned land," Vulić said. Vulić assessed that what is fundamentally missing is a proactive, scientific and institutional model of action that includes the creation of a unified property register. "It is necessary to establish a professionally verified and publicly accessible register of all confiscated and usurped private and Church property belonging to Serbs in Sarajevo, supported by precise cadastral data, historical documentation and property and ownership records," Vulić noted. Vulić said continuity in international engagement is also necessary. "The issue of property usurpation must not be an occasional topic that is raised from time to time, but a constant, well-substantiated item on the agenda in all diplomatic and legal discussions with representatives of major powers," said Vulić. Vulić stressed that professional systematization of the material is also necessary. "Historians and legal experts must jointly systematize the documentation on Serb property, endowments and cultural heritage in Sarajevo. Moving from a passive and defensive stance to a systematic, documentary and scholarly insistence on the protection of property rights is the only way to stop this lawlessness and overcome it through legal means," Vulić stressed.