The US Embassy in Sarajevo responded Thursday to the adoption of the Draft Law on Immovable Property by the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, restating that only the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina has the right to regulate that property.
“The Constitution of BiH and the relevant decisions of the BiH Constitutional Court are clear: Bosnia and Herzegovina is the titleholder of state property and the competence to regulate it falls within the exclusive responsibility of state-level institutions. The Republika Srpska National Assembly’s (RSNA) adoption yesterday evening of yet another Law on Immoveable Property does not change basic legal facts,” US Embassy tweeted. “Article III (3) of the BiH Constitution is also clear: The Republika Srpska (RS) must “comply fully” with the Constitution and with the decisions of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the final and binding rulings of the BiH Constitutional Court, whether RS authorities like them or not.”
The Embassy added that elected leaders’ preference for unproductive performance politics rather than engaging in good faith negotiations to resolve this issue comes at the cost of economic development, which would benefit the BiH citizens, including those living in the RS.
The law adopted by the RSNA regulates the property used by the semi-autonomous entity exercising that authority since the signing of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, but not the property that was registered as property of the former Socialist Republic of BiH (SRBiH) until December 31, 1991.
Several Pro-BiH parties from the Federation (FBiH) entity protested the decision announcing their appeal to the BiH Constitutional Court in which they would ask the Court to abolish the Law.