CVIJANOVIĆ CONSISTENTLY AND WITHOUT COMPROMISE DEFENDS CONSTITUTIONAL POSITION OF SRPSKA

SARAJEVO, JUNE 30 /SRNA/ - Deputy Minister of Defense in the Council of Ministers Aleksandar Goganović told SRNA that certain Federation-based media are conducting a coordinated campaign against the Serb member of the Presidency of BiH, Željka Cvijanović, simply because she consistently and without compromise protects the constitutional position of Republika Srpska and the interests of the Serb people.

It is obvious, Goganović says, that they are bothered by any representative of Republika Srpska who does not accept a policy of outvoting and the dismantling of the Dayton structure of BiH.

"As Deputy Minister of Defense and Deputy Chairman of the Commission for Cooperation with NATO, I am well aware of how the joint institutions at the level of BiH function. No decision relating to cooperation with NATO can be adopted without my consent," Goganović said.

He added that this was never presented as a blockade, but rather as a legitimate right arising from the principle of consensus and the equality of the constituent peoples.

The issue of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments of BiH, Goganović says, should be approached with the same logic.

"If in one area the consent of all and the protection of the interests of the constituent peoples is respected, then it is completely unacceptable that in another area a solution is attempted to be imposed through outvoting or media pressure," Goganović stressed.

He pointed out that Cvijanović had done nothing other than exercise the constitutional powers that belong to her, which exist precisely to protect Republika Srpska from the imposition of decisions.

He said that Cvijanović is fighting for the interests of Republika Srpska in a responsible, decisive, and statesmanlike manner, while never endangering the interests of the other two constituent peoples or the other entity.

"Attacking her for respecting the Constitution means attacking the Dayton order itself and the equality of the constituent peoples on which BiH rests," Goganović said, adding that these attacks are aimed at weakening the constitutional position of Republika Srpska.

Serb member of the Presidency of BiH Željka Cvijanović said that the National Assembly of Republika Srpska will have the final say on the decision regarding the appointment of members of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, which she declared yesterday to be destructive to the vital national interest of Republika Srpska after it was adopted at a Presidency session without a quorum.

Cvijanović said that the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Denis Bećirović, who proposed the decision, had acted unlawfully, and that constitutional and procedural rules were violated on multiple occasions during the Presidency session.