CVIJANOVIĆ: THE MEANING OF DAYTON SHOULD BE RENEWED SO THAT THE NEXT 30 YEARS MAY BE BETTER THAN THE PREVIOUS 30 YEARS

DAYTON, MAY 26 /SRNA/- The Serb member and Chairwoman of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović emphasized that on the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement, it is necessary to renew what the Agreement truly means – consensus, constitutionality, and cooperation among equals – and to return to the foundations so that the next thirty years may be better than the previous thirty.

SRNA publishes in full the address by the Serb member and Chairwoman of the Presidency of BiH at the event in Ohio marking the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement:

With deep respect and a sense of responsibility, I address you here in Dayton, the city that changed our history.

Thirty years ago, the Dayton Peace Agreement ended a devastating war and established a constitutional framework for BiH that reflected the reality of our society. It granted each of the three constituent peoples and the two entities the right to govern independently within a single state.

Dayton did not erase our differences – it provided organization. It did not impose unity – it gave us structure.

However, today that balance is slowly being undermined – not through a democratic mandate, but by actions of unelected international actors who do not regard Dayton as a binding agreement, but as a living document to be stretched, interpreted, and rewritten – without the consent of domestic actors.

It is true that over the past 30 years, BiH has been treated as a radical state-building project. That experimental approach has led the country from one crisis to another.

Almost all foreign interventions have been carried out without negotiations, parliamentary procedure, and constitutional legitimacy.

It is both justified and appropriate that right here, in Dayton, we reiterate that the Dayton Agreement never granted any unelected foreign bureaucrat bearing the title of High Representative the right to impose or change our laws, to suspend the constitutions of the entities, to instrumentalize the legal system to silence and remove our democratically elected leaders, such as the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik or to sanction our political parties.

All of this has been done by Christian Schmidt and many of his predecessors over the past three decades.

What is most concerning is the misuse of the judiciary, where legitimate political dissent is met with criminal charges, indictments, and threats of arrest.

I listened carefully to what President /Donald/ Trump, Vice President /JD/ Vance, Secretary of State /Marco/ Rubio, and, just two days ago, Deputy Secretary of State /Christopher/ Landau had to say on this matter.

It is evident that the state-building model promoted in BiH over the past three decades opposes the policies of President Trump's administration.

I believe that his administration will help us save democracy in BiH, where the future will not be written by decrees and foreign dictates, but by law and our Constitution.

I come from Republika Srpska, and I want to make it clear: we are not undermining the Dayton Agreement – we are defending it. But we do not want those who do not participate in our elections, do not speak our language, and bear no consequences for their imposed decisions to dictate how we should operate and govern.

One example of our commitment is the fact that November 21, the day the Dayton Agreement was signed, is a national holiday in Republika Srpska, while in the other entity it is an ordinary working day.

We want to renew Dayton – to return to the agreement as it was signed, not as it is imagined today. That is why Republika Srpska calls for a return to the foundations. We are ready to participate in a structured dialogue with all parties. If the Agreement is to evolve, it must evolve lawfully – through amendments and with the consent of all sides.

We also believe in a strategic partnership with the United States of America, especially when it comes to investments in the energy sector and the exploitation of critical minerals, based on transparency and constitutionality.

Finally, I want to emphasize that peace was possible in 1995 because all sides were respected and heard. Peace in 2025 requires the same approach.