LOZO: SRPSKA DOES NOT NEED APPROVAL OF FOREIGNERS FOR NEW CONSTITUTION, IT IS THE WILL OF PEOPLE

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 19 /SRNA/ - Historian Predrag Lozo told SRNA that in the new text of the Constitution of Republika Srpska it is necessary to further strengthen the division of legislative, judicial and executive powers, given that in the past three decades this document has undergone changes that were not in accordance with democratic principles, stating that one should not look back at the opinion of foreigners because those from the west never had good intentions towards Serbs.

"It is important that we think about the democratic potential, legitimacy and legality of the institutions of Republika Srpska. We must look at the issue of adopting a new Constitution through that continuity and we cannot succumb to the absurdities that exist in BiH. Someone now wants to prosecute certain people just for proposing a public draft of the constitution," explained Lozo in the SRNA podcast. He pointed out that even during the adoption of the first Constitution, democratic procedures were followed and that there was room for agreement with representatives of other nations. "The door was left open until the last moment to settle the problems in a peaceful way. That is why we are talking about legality and legitimacy when it comes to the creation of Republika Srpska," Lozo pointed out. He stressed that Republika Srpska and its people should not look back on what foreigners think about political events, stating that they were not sympathetic to the Serbs even when the conflict broke out in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. "A society that passes the Constitution should by no means ask for the permission of a foreign factor. We put ourselves in a subordinate position with that. We are aware of the political reality, but it is not a good way to expect someone's support," stated Lozo. He reminded that even then Bosniak political representatives through the Constitutional Court of BiH, as they do today, tried to challenge all state-making decisions of Serb representatives. "At that time, Alija Izetbegović said that the Constitutional Court would resolve it. If we look back at the experiences, we see that judicial institutions were also used in the fight against our people," said Lozo. Speaking about foreign tutorship in BiH, he told SRNA that foreigners have imposed themselves as an important factor, and that the senselessness of their actions is best indicated by the fact that foreigners in the Constitutional Court of BiH made a decision to remove lessons from textbooks. "It speaks of the meaninglessness of society. Judicial institutions are used as a political beating," said Lozo. When it comes to the statements of certain politicians that a conflict is possible in these areas, Lozo says that he does not believe that such a scenario can occur and that the events of 35 years ago and today cannot be viewed in the same way. "Looking back is not the same as looking forward. It is difficult to predict what will happen in the future. Thirty years have passed since the conflict and I think the people know that war is a great evil in which lives are lost," Lozo said. According to him, peace has unfortunately become an incident, and conflicts in the world have become normal. "I spoke to many fighters from the Defensive-Patriotic War and they are all aware that war is evil, but they are also aware that they have to defend themselves when family and homeland are attacked. Everyone is aware of those extremes and we hope that it will not come to that," said Lozo.