BELGRADE, November 12. /TASS/. The parliament of Republika Srpska (part of Bosnia and Herzegovina) advocated the military neutrality of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The corresponding document consists of 20 items and includes, in addition to the issue of NATO membership, evidence of multiple violations of the Dayton Accords, was adopted late on Tuesday night, the RTRS TV channel reported.
"The Parliamentary Assembly supports cooperation with NATO on key security issues but opposes BiH’s membership in NATO, considering it unacceptable to form NATO’s boundaries along the border with Serbia, as well as due to the high expenses which joining the alliance would entail. In case of forcible attempts of BiH’s accession to NATO, Republika Srpska will carry out a referendum, where citizens will sort out the issue of Republika Srpska’s participation in any military alliances," item 20 of the adopted document says.
The parliamentary members also protested against the illegal change of the Dayton structure of Bosnia and Herzegovia and demanded that the High Representative’s chancellery be abolished. In the adopted document, the MPs call for starting judicial reforms at the BiH level, preserving the Dayton structure and the wide autonomy of entities, down to self-determination.
In an interview with TASS earlier, member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik said that "much in the region is linked to the arrogance and insolence of certain organizations." He said, "NATO bombed Republika Srpska, Serbia, and the Serbian people, in fact, without any reason; actually, it was an attack on the Serbs, and radiation and radiation pollution can still be felt in many places, where NATO’s bombs with depleted uranium had been dropped." The politician highlighted that given this historical experience, Serbs refuse to join NATO.
BiH’s organization
Under the constitution suggested in the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Agreement) signed on December 14, 1995, in Paris, Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two entities: the Muslim-Croatian Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (51% of the territory) and Republika Srpska (49% of the territory), as well as the Brcko District. The state structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most complicated in the world. Three main nations are presented in the governance system proportionally: the Bosniaks (Slavs who adopted Islam), the Serbs (Orthodox) and the Croatians (Catholics).
That said, the country is governed through the High Representative of the international community (this post was created under the Dayton Accords), who is appointed by the ruling committee of the Peace Implementation Council. The collective body, Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, performs the function of the head of state. Under the constitution, it consists of three people: a Serb, a Croatian and a Bosniak, who are elected simultaneously with a four-year term by direct voting. The Croatian and the Bosniak are elected in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serb is elected in Republika Srpska.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to NATO is impossible without the agreement of all entities. However, Republika Srpska's parliament adopted the resolution on neutrality towards military unions back in October 2017. The Bosnian Serbs oppose accession to NATO and consider this parliamentary resolution as the first step toward carrying out a referendum on the issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession into the alliance.