KARAN: UNITY REQUIRED FOR PRESERVING SRPSKA STATUS AND COMPETENCIES

Nothing demonstrates the geopolitical strength of Republika Srpska more than its entry into the international financial market, which is a major success for Republika Srpska, the Government, and Finance Minister Zora Vidović.

Interviewed by: Nenad Stupar

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 2 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska President Siniša Karan stated that Republika Srpska supports BiH’ss accession to the EU, but will not allow European laws to be used to transfer competencies to the level of BiH.

"We advocate that EU accession be recognizable to the holders of sovereignty, which they are precisely against. They eliminate the coordination process and ministerial councils, and deliberately include the transfer of competencies in those laws, knowing that Republika Srpska will not accept it," Karan cited in his SRNA interview, adding that this creates a narrative that Republika Srpska is “blocking European processes.”

He assessed that geopolitical processes are moving in favour of Republika Srpska, as they create the possibility of changing that negative narrative.

"You can change the narrative only if you talk, present the true image of the situation in Republika Srpska, so that the voice of Srpska can be heard on certain issues. Many people were surprised in our discussions when they heard the actual truth, because they had a stereotype and narrative that Republika Srpska was seceding, that it would be a factor of instability, that we were aggressors and that Muslims were victims," Karan explained.

Regarding Republika Srpska's entry into the international financial market, the president said it was a major success demonstrating its political and economic strength.

"To enter such a stock exchange as the London one, you must be credible both economically and politically. You must have stable institutions and credibility built through a history of such transactions. Those who oppose this process misuse the situation, although they themselves are aware of how great a success it is," Karan said in his SRNA interview.

He emphasized that nothing demonstrates the geopolitical strength of Republika Srpska more than its access to the international financial market, which represents a major success for Republika Srpska, its Government, and Finance Minister Zora Vidović.

"It means that someone trusts you. It is confirmation of stability, perhaps the greatest one. We have been recognised as a relevant factor. Republika Srpska independently entered the stock exchange, which is verification of correct policies, sound economic processes, a diplomatic offensive, and the strength of institutions," Karan stressed.

BOSNIAK OFFICIALS' STATEMENT FULLY DIRECTED AGAINST REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

Commenting on the "Statement Condemning Hate Speech, Islamophobia and False Narratives about Bosniaks and BiH," recently signed in Sarajevo by Bosniak representatives, Karan explained that it is dangerous from several aspects and should serve as a reason for unity among the Serb people in preserving Republika Srpska's status.

Karan warned that the statement is harmful to the Serb people in several ways and demonstrates official Sarajevo's persistence in destabilizing the situation.

"Such statements are not statements of compromise, dialogue, or the Dayton-based BiH, Therefore, I believe that through unity of the Serb people, both the government and the opposition, we can preserve and strengthen the status of Republika Srpska, thus compel the others to begin talking with us, to understand that the concept of a unitary civic BiH is not a concept of coexistence among the three peoples," Karan emphasized in the interview with SRNA.

He warned that this statement should serve as a lesson to Serbs about the importance of unity, because when it comes to actions against Republika Srpska, everyone in Sarajevo is united and there is no distinction between opposition and government, they all think the same.

According to him, the statement is entirely directed against Republika Srpska and is in favour of the unitarization of BiH; if its positions was analised, a unitary narrative would be clearly revealed

"It continues to suggest that we are a `genocidal people` and that Republika Srpska is a `genocidal creation,` along with other dangerous theses such as the so-called `Bosnian Orthodox Church`. All of this represents a key path toward the destruction of the national identity and political existence of the Serb people," Karan explained.

He warned that the statement also continues the narrative of victim and aggressor, thereby further relativizing historical events, a process that has been ongoing for years in Europe.

"Today it happens that when May 9, Victory Day, is commemorated, those who were side with fascists, Nazis, and the Ustasha minimize and relativize the crimes committed by fascists. Historical science, academic thought, and political analysis have clearly shown who was on which side. Serbs have always been on the right side; they were never aggressors, they always defended their homes and never attacked someone else's," Karan stressed.

Speaking about the initiative to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, President Karan said this is an opportunity for the Bosniak people to demonstrate strength and distance themselves from what represents a security threat, recalling that units of terrorist organisations that operated in BiH under the umbrella of that organisation have been documented.

"We have a large number of their members who have been convicted in the Court and Prosecutor's Office, prosecuted for going to foreign battlefields and participating in terrorist organisations. They are recognised at the global level, and the Muslim Brotherhood organisation has for many years served as their umbrella," Karan said.


INCOMPLETE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF BiH'S DECISIONS – CONTINUATION OF POLICE REFORM AIMED AT SEZING ORIGINAL COMPETENCIES FROM SRPSKA

Asked to comment on the decisions of the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH declaring unconstitutional the Draft Republika Srpska Constitution and several articles of the Law on Republika Srpska Interior Ministry, Karan stated that the court, although illegitimate, continues to act against Republika Srpska.

"The Constitutional Court, if constitutional norms were taken into account, does not exist, because it is neither legal nor legitimate. It is a constitutional norm, but in its current incomplete composition it should not function. Despite all these facts, it keeps acting against Republika Srpska," Karan pointed out.

He assessed that the Draft Republika Srpska Constitution cannot be overturned because it is not a final.

"The Draft Republika Srpska Constitution is fully in line with the Dayton-based BiH, and that is why it bothers them. That document represents a struggle against anti-Dayton practices and includes everything that Republika Srpska introduced as its constitutional capacity within BiH," Karan said.

He noted that the Draft Constitution envisages a process of annulling acts adopted at the BiH level that are harmful to Republika Srpska, because Srpska has the right to eliminate from the legal order those acts that are contrary to its interests.

"In BiH, neither constitution nor law is superior or subordinate to another, which is one of the key federal elements of such a state. One of the parameters ensuring that is the division of competencies," Karan explained.

He expressed confidence that the day will come when BiH will return to the Dayton-based Constitution, which is reflected in the Draft Republika Srpska Constitution.

The goal of such incomplete Constitutional Court's decisions declaring unconstitutional certain articles of the Law on Police and the Ministry of Interior, President Karan has warned in his SRNA interview, is to continue police reform and deprive Republika Srpska of its original competencies.

"The original competency of the Ministry of Interior is to maintain records, process and personalize all personal documents, while the BiH Agency for Identification Documents, Registers and Data Exchange is only a technical service that should process those data technically on behalf of the MoI," Karan stressed.

With this decision, he pointed out, the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH is strengthening an institution that was supposed to have a completely different purpose.

"Now that agency and the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies are being turned into the very structures that they intended to create through police reform - bodies superior to police authorities in the segment of personal data," Karan said, noting that this could be of key importance for organizing referendums.

According to him, since 2016, when the referendum on Republika Srpska Day was held, the goal has been to deprive Srpska of the ability to organise another referendum in the future, because it would then be impossible to use citizens’ personal data.

He stressed that the issue of eliminating the right of the Ministry of Interior to maintain international cooperation is very dangerous.

"This is a precedent that is extremely dangerous, because today it concerns the Republika Srpska MoI, but it could extend to all our institutions and put Srpska in a position where it cannot do anything without approval from the level of BiH," Karan warned.