STEVANDIĆ: SRPSKA IS NOT OBSTACLE; EUROPEAN INTEGRATION POSSIBLE WITH RESPECT FOR CONSTITUTION

BANJA LUKA, DECEMBER 8 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska safeguards its Constitution, territory, and property, and is neither a threat nor an obstacle to anyone, said Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Nenad Stevandić, who today had the opportunity to explain the situation in Srpska in the French Senate and to stress that the Constitution and the Dayton Agreement are not barriers to EU integration.

“Republika Srpska should not be expected to give up its property, and I am pleased to have encountered understanding on this issue. In Republika Srpska, we only respond defensively, which has already been understood by people in the United States, and now we are trying to explain it in Europe as well,” Stevandić said after talks with Senator Marta de Cidrac, chair of the France–Western Balkans Friendship Group. Stevandić emphasized that no one can call Serbs derogatory names or separatists and then expect them to live together in the same country, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska said in a statement. “We have our rights, our property, and the inter-entity boundary line agreed upon in Dayton. As such, BiH can join the EU. Everything else that is based on stripping away competencies is not a European path – it is political deception,” Stevandić stated. He reiterated that he will explain the position of Republika Srpska everywhere: that it protects its Constitution, territory, and property, and poses no threat or obstacle to anyone. “We are fighting for equal status for all in BiH. Republika Srpska gained its subjectivity and sovereignty through the Dayton Agreement. We hope that the diplomatic and other channels we are opening will contribute to better understanding of Srpska,” Stevandić concluded. Stevandić is on a working visit to France until Wednesday, December 10, where meetings are planned in several institutions and organizations important for parliamentary cooperation and European integration. The visit will include discussions in the French Parliament, as well as consultations in institutions and research centers focused on the EU, the Western Balkans, and European integration processes.