MILIĆ: ENTITY SERVICES' WORK ESTABLISHED BY STATUTE, TENSIONS UNFOUNDED

BRČKO, FEBRUARY 26 /SRNA/ - The Mayor of Brčko, Siniša Milić, has stated for SRNA that the work of entity-level services in Brčko is clearly defined by the District Statute and that tensions are being unnecessarily raised over this issue.

Milić pointed out that attempts to misinform the public about alleged violations of the Arbitral Decision are efforts to deny the Republika Srpska rights that the other entity already exercises. He specified that Article 9, paragraph 2 of the Statute stipulates that an entity or municipality may establish or manage administrative bodies or offices in the Brčko area with the consent of the District Government. "This does not constitute a violation of the Arbitral Decision, as claimed by a group of Brčko intellectuals, who have even been disavowed by the Council of Bosniak Intellectuals in Sarajevo, but rather represents the rights of both entities, which they have exercised over two decades of the district's existence," Milić said. He reminded that the governments of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH /FBiH/ already have their offices in Brčko, as well as branch offices of the pension and disability insurance funds, tax administrations, and other services of interest to citizens. Milić highlighted that the FBiH government is the majority owner of the building housing the Federal Government Coordinator's Office, which fully establishes equality between the rights of both entities. "Clearly, there are individuals inside and outside the district who are opposed to the political and every other way of stability of this community, and they attempt to disrupt the political climate through disinformation," Milić assessed. The Mayor of Brčko stressed that the district authorities are capable of finding a solution to this, what he described as a fabricated problem, in accordance with the Statute and the multiethnic spirit of the community, and that they are working intensively on it. The Brčko Intellectuals' Forum requested that local authorities annul the purchase of a building acquired by Republika Srpska, calling it the Srpska House and claiming that entity institutions were illegally housed there. The issue of the Srpska House in Brčko was also addressed yesterday by the Office of the High Representative /OHR/ and discussed in talks between SBB President Fahrudin Radončić and district supervisor Louis Krishock.