OŠAP-GAĆANOVIĆ: DAYTON INSTITUTION CANNOT BE UNILATERALLY CHANGED

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, September 30 /SRNA/ - A member of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments from Republika Srpska Anđelina Ošap-Gaćanović told SRNA that the situation with the Commission only confirms that Serb member of the Presidency Željka Cvijanović, by exercising her constitutional right to a veto, defended the constitutional position of Srpska and Serbs, and that criticism from part of the opposition was short-sighted.

She stressed that BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić, by acknowledging that the Commission no longer exists, had in effect confirmed what had been warned about from the very beginning.

"It is significant that Komšić is now himself speaking about the mistake made by /Bosniak member Denis/ Bećirović and confirming that he participated in and voted for such solutions, while his statements and the departure of UNESCO experts themselves confirm what Željka Cvijanović warned about from the very beginning - that a Dayton institution cannot be unilaterally changed, nor can Republika Srpska be excluded from it, and then such a solution maintained by bringing in international experts," Ošap-Gaćanović pointed out.

She stressed that the forcible implementation of the invalid decision on the appointment of foreigners is also being examined in criminal proceedings and that, in the end, those who attempted to impose such unilateral solutions brought the Commission into a situation in which its work has been obstructed through their own actions.

Ošap-Gaćanović said that the attempt, which Bećirović devised, to turn a Dayton institution into an administrative organization that would be managed without the consent of Republika Srpska is unlawful, absurd and contrary to the Constitution of BiH.

She noted that this was also an answer to part of the opposition from Republika Srpska which, without sufficient knowledge of the essence of the problem and the processes unfolding within the Commission, attempted to attack Cvijanović in the media precisely over the issue of the Commission.

Noting that such criticism had proved short-sighted, she said that instead of political qualifications, it would have been enough simply to wait and see what consequences the unilateral solutions would produce.

"Cvijanović handled the procedure for protecting the position of Republika Srpska in the Commission very well - she responded institutionally, in a timely and coordinated manner, and we informed all the relevant addresses about all the illegalities and the unilateral solution. Through her constitutional powers and institutional procedures, she brought Bećirović's process to the point of absurdity, in which he ultimately ruined his own efforts," Ošap-Gaćanović stressed.

"Our position has been clear from the outset and remains unchanged - Republika Srpska is one of the parties whose participation is incorporated into the Dayton framework of this institution, and its position cannot be bypassed through political or administrative constructions, nor through manipulation by foreign experts or UN agencies," she said.

"As we have already told the public - there will be no Commission if Republika Srpska, one of its Dayton founders, is not part of it, and Komšić's statements today have only further confirmed the correctness of everything we have undertaken to protect and strengthen Srpska's position in this institution," Ošap-Gaćanović said.

BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić had previously acknowledged that Bećirović's unlawful actions had resulted in the Commission to Preserve National Monuments no longer existing.