DODIK: PROPERTY IS OUR CONSTITUTIONAL PILLAR, NOT A MATTER OF BARGAINING

BANJA LUKA, DECEMBER 12 /SRNA/ - SNSD leader Milorad Dodik has underlined that the property of Republika Srpska is not subject to bargaining, compromise, or negotiation, but is "the foundation of our constitutional status and our right to self-governance".

Dodik believes it is important that more and more voices are being heard clearly calling for the protection of Republika Srpska's property. "That is why I welcome and support the position of the group of independent intellectuals, led by Petar Kunić, that Republika Srpska must not give up its property," Dodik wrote on the social network X. According to him, throughout Europe and the world, property is a basic attribute of every community with autonomy, listing examples such as Catalonia, South Tyrol, Flanders, Scotland, as well as German and US federal states. "All of them have clearly defined property of their own and their own competencies. That is the standard, not the exception," Dodik stressed. Dodik added that Republika Srpska is not asking for anything other than what exists everywhere else: to manage its land, forests, rivers, roads, and the territory that belongs to it under the Constitution. "This is not a political issue but a basic right. The property of Republika Srpska is not up for discussion. It is the guarantee of our stability and existence. And that is how it will remain," Dodik emphasized.