ADOPTION OF CONSTITUTION WAS EXPRESSION OF WILL TO CONSTITUTE STATE OF SERB PEOPLE

BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 24 /SRNA/ - The Minister of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education of Republika Srpska Draga Mastilović said that the adoption of the Constitution of Republika Srpska 34 years ago was an expression of the will of Serb political representatives to, for the first time in modern history, constitute a state of the Serb people in these areas.

"This above all speaks to a high level of national awareness, as well as a great measure of courage on the part of the intellectual and political elite who decided on such a step, guided primarily by the tragic experience of World War II," Mastilović told reporters in Banja Luka.

He stated that through this act, the Serb people demonstrated that they would not allow genocide to be repeated, and that Republika Srpska is the sole guarantor of their survival.

"The adoption of the first Constitution should be viewed from that perspective. It is one of the most significant dates in the modern history of the Serbian people," Draga Mastilović emphasized.

The Assembly of the Serbian People of BiH adopted the Constitution on February 28, 1992. It was adopted unanimously, based on the Declaration of Establishment, ensuring full equality and equal rights for all peoples and citizens of the Republic.

The highest legal act of Republika Srpska, which, with certain amendments, remains in force today, was adopted before the outbreak of the tragic conflicts and before the unilateral declaration of independence of BiH by Bosniaks and Croats following the March 1 referendum, in which Serbs did not participate.