VUKOVIĆ: OHR MUST LEAVE BiH TO ALLOW DOMESTIC POLITICIANS TO REACH AGREEMENT

BANJA LUKA, November 16 /SRNA/ - The Dayton concept of BiH has proven entirely unsuccessful and misguided, especially with regard to Republika Srpska, and therefore something must change - starting with the departure of the OHR from BiH, Senator of Republika Srpska Dragomir Vuković told SRNA.

Vuković stressed that Republika Srpska has been under constant and strong pressure throughout the 30 years since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

"It is fortunate that it has survived and endured in this form, despite the loss of numerous competencies. I am convinced that Republika Srpska would have developed far better and much faster had it not been subjected to continuous attacks and pressure from both the Bosniak political elite and the OHR, as well as parts of the international community," Vuković explained.

He said that three decades after its signing, the Dayton Agreement has produced poor results in nearly all areas, which is why changes are necessary. The first step, he argued, is for international institutions to leave BiH and allow domestic political actors to reach agreements on their own.

Dayton was supposed to enable - despite all difficulties - the building of a self-sustaining society based on agreements reached by domestic political leaders, Vuković noted.

"However, matters took an entirely different direction, primarily because the foreign factor - embodied in the OHR and the dominance of major powers - acted in an unprincipled and disruptive manner in BiH, rather than in a stabilizing role," he said.

Vuković emphasized that the oft-repeated phrase that "Dayton stopped the war" should not be considered its most important legacy, reminding that the war ended 30 years ago.

"The essence lies in the kind of BiH concept offered by Dayton and its Constitution, and what has been achieved in constructing a post-Dayton BiH. The results are very weak; almost nothing has been accomplished. I believe the Dayton concept of BiH has proven completely unsuccessful and misguided, particularly regarding Srpska and the Serbian people" he stated.

He added that Dayton BiH is an important historical fact, but that its model of a complex consociational state with protective mechanisms never functioned properly or was completely dismantled.

The General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH, known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, was reached on November 21, 1995, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, and formally signed on December 14 of the same year in Paris.