DAYTON CREATED FOUNDATIONS FOR BiH TO BE A COMPLEX SOVEREIGN STATE, NOT PROTECTORATE

BANJA LUKA, MAY 21 /SRNA/ – The Dayton Agreement created the foundations for BiH to be a complex sovereign state in which decisions are made by elected representatives of the people, not a protectorate in which the will of the people is subordinated to the will of an unelected and illegitimate High Representative, said President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik.

"Everything in this world has its price. Those who are undermining the foundations of Dayton today forget that any imposition will eventually come back like a boomerang. Dayton is the foundation of BiH and peace within it - and whoever undermines that foundation is also undermining peace, and undermining BiH itself," Dodik emphasized in his address to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, as fully conveyed by SRNA:

"If Dayton was an agreement - a constitutional arrangement - then we must honestly ask the following: Who violated that agreement? Who changed its provisions? Who introduced new rules? Who decided that the written word of the BiH Constitution no longer applies? Because it wasn't us. It wasn't the citizens of Republika Srpska.

Republika Srpska has never wanted to make decisions on behalf of Bosniaks or Croats. We never wanted to choose their representatives. Banja Luka never wanted to regulate affairs in Sarajevo, Zenica, or Mostar. But likewise, we will never allow them to make decisions on our behalf. Not because we are stubborn, but because that is the will of the Serb people.

Nor was it the citizens of BiH who did this. It was those who came after the agreement was signed — those who assumed the right to interpret, reshape, and disregard it. And the most visible face of that undermining today is Christian Schmidt.

Let's speak honestly - not disrespectfully, but truthfully. Schmidt has never been confirmed by the United Nations Security Council. According to Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement, the High Representative must be appointed and confirmed by the Security Council, and prior to that, selected by the signatories of Annex 10. That never happened.

When they tried to impose Schmidt at any cost, Russia objected. China did not give its consent. Schmidt never received support from the Security Council. This means that Schmidt is not a High Representative appointed in accordance with international law.

Since Schmidt cannot rely on any international agreement, law, or binding act that would grant him legitimacy, he is an ordinary citizen who issues decrees without mandate, without legitimacy, and without accountability. Sadly, the other party to the agreement - the Federation of BiH - accepts him solely because his dictates are aimed at dismantling Republika Srpska.

This is not a technical issue. It is a legal and constitutional crisis. Since his arrival in 2021 - which coincided with the return of the Biden administration - Schmidt has used self-declared powers to impose criminal laws, suspend budget funding, and threaten elected officials, all without the consent of any parliament, any people, or any international body supposedly responsible for overseeing his mandate.

This is not merely a violation of Dayton. It is a violation of all principles of democratic governance. And yet, simply because we pointed this out, simply because we demanded that Dayton be respected - the leadership of Republika Srpska was sanctioned, condemned, allegedly isolated as they like to say, and accused.

But let's be clear: this is not about one man. Christian Schmidt is not the cause. He is the poster face — the poster face of a generation of so-called `state builders` who act not with military force, but with decrees. Not with tanks, but with a culture of elimination. Not with diplomacy, but with the abuse of law — using the appearance of legality to destroy the essence of law.

What we are witnessing today is not accountability. It is ideological imposition. It is what happens when a foreign, unelected official uses self-proclaimed powers to remove elected representatives who dare to say `no` to the dismantling of an international treaty. It is what happens when democracy is treated not as the will of the people, but as a formality for fulfilling the wishes and views of those who consider themselves superior beings."