ŠKOBO: ASSEMBLY ESTABLISHMENT WAS THE ONLY POSSIBLE MOVE FOR SERB PEOPLE’S SURVIVAL

PALE, OCTOBER 21 /SRNA/ – The establishment of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH 35 years ago was the only possible move for Serb people's survival, which is the decision that affirmed political and national will, historian Lazar Škobo told SRNA.

Škobo stated that in October 1991, the Serbs in BiH directed their activities toward what would ensure the preservation of their national and religious identity in the future, emphasizing that the establishment of the Assembly was a move of Serbs’ determination to survive in the territory where they had lived for centuries.

"Anything else would have led to the fate that befell the Serb people under both the First and Second Yugoslavias. This was precisely the only way to avoid further suffering which, given our tragic history, would have been unacceptable," Škobo said ahead of the upcoming marking of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Republika Srpska National Assembly.

He noted that it was extremely hypocritical for those who had historically sided with the occupiers to attempt, in 1991, to politically outvote and override the will of the Serb people.

Škobo stressed that the Serb people had been present in this territory for more than a millennium and had left an indelible historical and cultural mark during that time.

"The medieval Bosnian state was Serb, not to mention that during the difficult period of Ottoman rule, all the early signs of the struggle for freedom, and later the struggle itself, were Serb, as were the first theatre, educational institutions, and cultural institutions," Škobo emphasized.

He pointed out that the Serbs had suffered enormously in both world wars and recalled that nearly one million Serbs perished during World War II alone in the territory west of the Drina River.

Škobo also noted that the Serbs had an exceptionally tragic and telling historical experience.

The National Assembly of Republika Srpska, the highest constitutional and legislative body within the governing structure of Srpska and the central institution of its parliamentary system, was established on October 24, 1991, in Sarajevo as the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH.

The decision was adopted by representatives elected in the autumn 1990 elections.

On the same day, at the constituent session of the Assembly of the Serb People in BiH, several other acts were adopted, including the politically significant decision for the Serb people to remain in the common state of Yugoslavia and the decision to call and conduct a plebiscite of the Serb people in BiH.

On January 9, 1992, the Republika Srpska National Assembly representatives adopted the Declaration proclaiming the Republic of the Serb People of BiH, which is the date celebrated as Republika Srpska Day.

On February 28, 1992, the National Assembly adopted the Republika Srpska Constitution and the Constitutional Law for its implementation, thereby formally establishing the legal and constitutional status of the Serb people as a state-forming entity.