PROTECTION OF VITAL NATIONAL INTERESTS - ONE OF KEY PRINCIPLES OF DAYTON

PALE, JULY 8 /SRNA/ - The Creators of Republika Srpska Association welcomed the adoption of the Declaration on the Protection of Vital National Interests of the Serb People in BiH, stating that the protection of vital national interests is one of the key principles of the Dayton Peace Agreement and a strong instrument for safeguarding the equality of the Serb people in BiH.

"We believe that all political actors in Republika Srpska will be able to demonstrate political maturity, unity and the necessary cohesion in the protection of vital national interests in the future as well, to preserve what few nations of our size in the world have – their own state," the Association said. The Association expressed hope that, in these turbulent political times, the positions set out in the Declaration would serve as an important encouragement and support to key institutions and legislators to fight even more strongly for the preservation of the fundamental values upon which Republika Srpska was established. They pointed out that this was why the initiative for the Declaration came jointly from the Association and the Veterans' Organization of Republika Srpska. Last night, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska unanimously adopted, under an urgent procedure, the Declaration on the Protection of Vital National Interests of the Serb People in BiH, which emphasises the importance of defending the democratically elected institutions of Republika Srpska from all attempts to reduce or abolish their powers and transfer them to the level of the joint institutions of BiH with the aim of unitarisation. The Declaration also states that it is necessary to launch, through parliamentary and other procedures, proceedings to annul a number of decisions by High Representatives adopted based on the so-called Bonn powers.