ISSN: 2560-1601

Vol. 25, No. 4 (BH)

Jan 2020

Bosnia-Herzegovina external relations briefing: Foreign Affairs of in January and February 2020 Zvonimir Stopić

1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11.

+36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin

Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01

Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina in January and February 2020

The celebration of Day on on 9 January and the crisis emerging from the contradicting positions between the Republika Srpska National Assembly and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina over the rights of possession of the Agricultural lands in the public domain, not only did place a large question mark over the future stability of the country, but also drew significant international attention. The numerous statements over secession of Republika Srpska, made by the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (Saveza nezavisnih socijaldemokrata, SNSD) , were not accepted well by the United States, the European Union. Dodik’s aspirations for the independent Republika Srpska or the union of Republika Srpska with Serbia will no doubt continue to be one of the prime topics of the Bosnia and Herzegovina foreign affairs in the rest of the 2020.

The celebration of Republika Srpska Day, which took place in on 9 January, was yet another display of Milorad Dodik’s aspirations to make Republika Srpska independent or joined with Serbia. The high level Serbian delegation that joined the celebrations, consisting of the Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, the Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin and the Minister of Internal Affairs Nebojša Stefanović, was presented as the direct representation of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, and was perceived by many in Bosnia and Herzegovina as yet another direct Serbian interference in the internal affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The fact that during the celebrations no Bosniak or Croat politicians were present, along with the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s anthem was not played after those of Republika Srpska and Serbia, only made the whole event look even more sinister. The Republika Srpska did not fail to advertise the event around the world through the Serbian ambassadors and consuls of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The the most advertised celebration of Republika Srpska Day took place at the Serb Center Missisauga in Torontol, in the presence of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ambassador to Canada Marko Milisav, the Ambassador of Serbia to Canada Mihajlo Papazoglu and the Consul General of Serbia in Toronto Vasilije Petković. During the ceremony a letter from Milorad Dodik was read, in which he wholeheartedly thanked the Serb community in Canada for continued support to Republika Srpska. Speaking in front of the crowd, Marko

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Milisav stated that Republika Srpska was “born in peace and defended and preserved in war”, while Vasilije Petković stated that “Drina is only a river, not the border.” Similar events took place in several other places. The celebration in Antwerpen was attended by the President of Republika Srpska Željka Cvijanović, and in Stuttgart the “9 January” was celebrated in similar fashion some two weeks after the actual event. The pinnacle of these 9 January celebrations occurred in Belgrade on 28 February. The Republika Srpska Representation in Serbia organized a reception in the Belgrade City Hall, the Old Palace. There, besides the Republika Srpska Day, special attention was given to the 28th anniversary of the adoption of the first Constitution of the Republika Srpska, which at the time already was under the looking glass due to the disputed Law on agricultural lands. Besides Milorad Dodik and Željka Cvijanović, the ceremony was attended by a number of Serbian politicians, including the envoy of the President of Serbia - the President of the Serbian Parliament Maja Gojković. It is important to note that the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, in order to avoid unwanted attention, was careful enough not to attend any of these celebrations. However, his support was still tangible, because both the celebrations in Banja Luka and Belgrade were attended by his envoys, the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and the President of the Serbian Parliament Maja Gojković, respectively. Both Ana Brnabić and Maja Gojković are members of the Serbian ruling party, the Serbian Progressive Party (Srpska progresivna stranka, SPP), headed by Aleksandar Vučić.

The celebrations of the Republic of Srpska Day on 9 January ushered opposing reactions from the centers of the three main western powers. The European Union firmly supported the decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which already in November 2015 deemed the celebrations of “9 January” as unconstitutional. The spokesperson at the European Union Special Representative Office Jamila Milović-Halilović stated that “the European Union attributes great importance to the proper functioning of democratic institutions, including the implementation of the Constitutional Court decisions, as mentioned in the Commission's Opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina's European Union membership application, and urges all political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina to refrain from divisive rhetoric and focus on effective rule of law in order to tackle vital reforms on the European Union path of Bosnia and Herzegovina.” She also added that “the European Union is committed to Bosnia and Herzegovina's European Union perspective as a single, united and sovereign country.” The United States reacted in a similar way. Although the United States Embassy showed its support for Republika Srpska celebrating its holidays, it also made it clear that the “constitutional Court decisions are binding and must be respected under the rule of law.” Unlike the European Union and the United States, the representatives of the Russian

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Federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina reacted in diametrically opposed manner, giving full support to the Republika Srpska. Russia’s Embassy stated that there is no apparent unconstitutionality when it comes to the case of Republika Srpska Day. The Constitutional Court decision, according to the Russia’s Embassy, “does not refer to the Day of Republika Srpska but to one article in the Law on the Day of Republika Srpska.” Russia’s Embassy also made an appeal to all sides, including the international community, to “refrain from the negative and divisive rhetoric, trust the law, take into account the legal interests of both sides and to commit to the peaceful cooperation in the new year of 2020.”

The general depreciation of the international community over the 9 January celebrations did not tone down as February was about to start. Quite the contrary, the 9 January celebrations were only the beginning. On 6 and 7 February, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina found the Law on agricultural lands of the Republika Srpska, which placed all the agricultural lands in public domain in Republika Srpska into property of Republika Srpska, not in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus spurring a new long- lasting political crisis. Not only did the difference of opinion over the land ownership rights between the Constitutional Court and Republika Srpska politicians raise numerous questions over the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dayton Accords, it also escalated in a new paralysis of the Bosnia and Herzegovina ruling institutions and provided an additional cause to SNSD’s aspirations toward the Secession of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Numerous statements on the necessity of Republika Srpska’s secession Dodik made over the next two weeks, most memorable being “Goodbye BiH, welcome RS exit” (spoken at the National Assembly of Republika Srpska session on 17 February), ushered new reactions from the international community. Already on 14 February, the embassies of United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, along with the European Union Delegation/European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a Joint Statement in which they fully supported the Constitutional Court decisions and insisted on their full implementation. The statement also warned that the attempts to undermine these decisions “bear real life consequences when it comes to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s relationship with other countries.” However, since the official warnings of the United States and the European countries failed to prevent Dodik’s attitude in any way, even a direct personal contact was soon made. On 19 February, right after Dodik prevented every decision-making at the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Presidency session, Ambassador Eric Nelson personally encountered Dodik. In a conversation Nelson and Dodik had in the Presidency building in , the Ambassador “underscored that the US expects nothing less that full respect for the Dayton Accords, and the territorial

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Conclusion

The 9 January celebration and the constitutional crisis which followed soon after ushered a strong reaction from the international community. The European Union and the United States made strong statements, supporting the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These statements and pressures, however, failed to de-escalate the situation so far. Quite the contrary, by presenting “warnings” as “threats” in media, Milorad Dodik used the European Union and United States’ statements to further electrify the crisis. The diplomatic dialogue over the constitution crisis and the secession of Republika Srpska will continue in the following months.

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