KARAN: DAYTON IS SOLUTION, PROBLEM LIES WITH THOSE UNDERMINING IT

BANJA LUKA, NOVEMBER 16 /SRNA/ — Defending the Dayton Peace Accords and its annexes represents protection of the foundations of a functional, stable and legally ordered BiH, constitutional law professor Siniša Karan emphasized for SRNA.

“Dayton was signed at a moment when all sides received the minimum of their historic demands. No one emerged as a winner, but everyone accepted a compromise — and that is precisely why the agreement has endured for three decades,” Karan said in an interview marking the 30th anniversary of the accord. He noted that for 30 years Republika Srpska has been engaged in a legal, institutional and democratic struggle to preserve the original agreement, an obligation rooted in its constitutional position, because a BiH in which some rule while others are expected merely to nod along - cannot survive. “Dayton is not BiH’s problem, the problem lies with those who seek to annul or dismantle it,” Karan stressed. As new calls emerge, three decades after the agreement, for a “more functional BiH Constitution,” Karan said it is necessary to ask a simple question: What is actually hidden behind this seemingly harmless phrase, especially given that constitutional terminology is often used to mask real political intentions. “The unitarist concept of a so-called ‘civic state,’ constantly pushed by political Sarajevo and supported by high representatives who have imposed 913 decisions, every single one of them against Republika Srpska, is not a sign of democratic maturity. It is an attempt to use constitutional engineering to rewrite historical reality. A false impression is created that BiH can be redesigned without compromise, without respecting its complex ethnic structure, and without acknowledging a basic truth: BiH only functions when no one has the power to outvote the other,” Karan pointed out. He emphasised that the Dayton structure did not arise by accident; it is the product of history, complex negotiations and international verification of the compromise reached. “Republika Srpska rests on four pillars that have proven stronger than all subsequent political shocks. These four pillars and three principles are not political slogans; they are the formula that keeps BiH in balance,” Karan explained. According to Karan, Republika Srpska is not an administrative unit but a political expression of a people who, faced with historic challenges, organised their community and shaped its institutions. He underlined that the Dayton Agreement is an international treaty and part of international law, and as such cannot be arbitrarily interpreted or rewritten. Consequently, the position of Republika Srpska is not a political privilege but a fact guaranteed under international law. Karan told SRNA that economic self-sufficiency is a prerequisite for institutional sovereignty — strong institutions cannot exist without their own economic base. This is why, he said, development policy is the most tangible way to preserve the Dayton framework. He stated that the functionality of BiH as a complex state does not lie in uniformity but in a precise balance, referring primarily to parity, consensus and the division of competences. “Parity — the equality of entities and constituent peoples in joint institutions is not an obstacle, but a guarantee of peace. Without parity, decision-making becomes a tool of domination. Consensus — given the lessons of the past, the peoples of BiH have accepted a model in which no one can be outvoted on issues touching their core interests. This is not a blockade but a safeguard mechanism, the foundation of BiH’s constitutional logic. Division of competences — clear line between entity and state-level powers reveals the true nature of the constitutional order, which means BiH is an asymmetric federation with elements of a confederation. Attempts to overturn this balance are not a legal necessity but a political ambition,” Karan explained. He reiterated that within this framework, Republika Srpska was given a status that is more than ordinary autonomy and slightly less than full statehood, but strong enough to protect its constitutional integrity. “The claim that Dayton ‘hinders BiH’s development’ is merely a political mask concealing an effort to declare one people dominant while reducing the other two to decorative elements in the political system. That is a major obstacle to BiH’s survival and if we wish BiH to survive for the benefit of all three constituent peoples, it can only be a Dayton-based BiH,” professor of constitutional law Siniša Karan explained.