Bosnia’s Federation Condemns Serb Court Referendum

At an extraordinary session on Wednesday, Bosnia's Federation parliament adopted a document reaffirming committment to Euro-Atlantic integration, the rule of law, equality, and the consistent implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords.

The chairman of the parliament, Denis Zvizdic, previously stated that the declaration is a response of both Federation houses of parliament to current political events in Bosnia and the fact that, after what he called years of anti-Dayton activities, the assembly of Bosnia's predominantly Serb entity, Republika Srpska, passed a decision earlier this month to stage a referendum on the State Court and the Prosecutor's Office.

The Declaration, which consists of four chapters, says: “Parliament resolutely rejects the entity challenging the state court and prosecutors, which were established by the Constitution and laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an indispensable part of an independent and impartial Bosnia’s judicial system, and cannot be denied by a single entity”.

The declaration also condemned what it called attacks from Republika Srpska on state-level institutions, especially the Intelligence and Security Agency, OSA, and State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, and affirmed its support for the work of these bodies to protect the constitutional order and fight against organised crime, corruption, terrorism and war crimes.

Deputies of the opposition Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, and the HDZ 1990, the two main Croat parties, did not attend the session on Wednesday.

Serb representatives expressed dissatisfaction with the Federation declaration. Lazar Prodanovic, an MP in Bosnia's state parliament and a member of the strongest Serb party, SNSD, said that the declaration of the Federation Parliament is “contradictory”.

“The Federation considered that the criticism of some of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina amounts to contesting the state," Prodanovic said.

The National Assembly of Republika Srpska voted in early April to hold a referendum on the state-level war crimes court, and on the “anti-constitutional laws and activities of the High Representative in Bosnia”.

The move was widely condemned by the international representatives and politicians in Bosnia, who argue that the decision is unconstitutional and against the provisions of the 1995 Dayton peace settlement.

Bosnia's High Representative, Valentin Inzko, has warned that the referendum could further undermine the country's stability.

The decision on the vote was printed in Wednesday’s edition of Republika Srpska’s Official Gazette, and the referendum should be held in June.