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SARAJEVO, December 13 (FENA) - A member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić spoke about the 25th anniversary of the signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the post-Dayton phase in building BiH, which now is often mentioned in international diplomatic and domestic political circles.
Speaking about the importance of the Dayton Agreement, Komsic points out that the Dayton PA has only partially fulfilled its integrative role, but that peace and the state framework have been preserved as the first priorities.
Komšić points out that the signing of the Dayton Agreement stopped the aggression of neighboring countries on BiH, which was established in several verdicts of international courts, and in the end, the execution of genocide in BiH was stopped.
"Leaving aside how fair that Agreement was, still from this time distance it can be said that the Dayton mechanism partly contributed to the integration of the state, especially in the first phase, i.e., the first decade of the Dayton constitutional order, when with a stronger the presence of BiH allies from the international community, we managed to rehabilitate state institutions, where I would especially emphasize the reform of the security and defense sector in BiH.
On the other hand, the DPA fulfilled its integrative role, and thus prevented attempts at possible separatism and the production of violence. Peace has been preserved and there is a stable state framework, which was a top priority at the time," said Komšić.
Commenting on the increasingly pronounced assessments coming by international officials about the Dayton PA, as it not being an eternal category, Komšić emphasizes the importance of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
"I am of the opinion that the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, in several cases, have clearly given everyone an idea of why the Dayton PA cannot be an eternal category. All these judgments simply established constitutional discrimination, and it is evident that the current constitutional order does not guarantee the equality of all citizens, and the equality of all citizens is the foundation of the modern and civilized world.
Several judgments of the European Court of Human Rights have clearly established that the existing ethnic-constitutive model is not in line with the European acquis and European practice and that it must be overcome through the implementation of these judgments and the introduction of equality of all citizens.
Therefore, when we talk about a new phase in building Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state of equal citizens and peoples, we simply cannot talk about anything other than the organization of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a civic state. The post-Dayton phase of normal and stable BiH can only be its civic phase," Komšić emphasized.
Komšić adds that he is convinced that the civic organization of BiH would mean more stable state institutions.
"The existing system, which is more inclined to the ethnic concept, is a fertile ground for all possible blockades of state institutions, which is especially evident in the field of justice. It is impossible to establish the rule of law in a state if the leading people in the judiciary are elected on an ethnic basis or, worse, according to ethnic and political party principles. Until such a principle is eradicated, we will remain victims of corruption and all possible forms of nepotism," he stated.
Speaking about how realistic and possible the organization of BiH on the civic principle is, Komšić points out that, first of all, a consensus must be established internally.
"In theory, everything is on our side, starting with the relevant judgments of international courts, however, if we in Bosnia and Herzegovina abandon this concept, making rotten compromises with the ethnic concept, for example in the field of electoral legislation, then the most ideal international circumstances will not be useful.
We must first determine what is the minimum consensus among us who are for the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the minimum consensus, in my opinion, is the commitment to equal and not unequal value of each vote, as advocated by those who oppose the implementation of European Court judgments - which ultimately means a civic state.
A civic state is not a dream, it is a potential, if we have that kind of consensus around it. In that case, it will be less important what Belgrade or Zagreb say about it, and it will be more important what Brussels and Washington say, which are for the civic concept, but above all, it is us who have to fight for it," concluded Komšić.
(FENA) S. R.
