The President of Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, announced today in Mostar that a meeting is scheduled in Banja Luka on Wednesday to discuss the new text of the RS Constitution.

Dodik mentioned that the revised constitution will clearly define the constitutional status of the RS, stressing that “what has been imposed will no longer be permissible,” and he supports the guarantee of seats for constituent peoples in the RS National Assembly.

“We have the legitimacy; Republika Srpska is a participant in the Dayton process,” he told reporters in Mostar following a discussion with Dragan Čović, the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of BiH (HDZ BiH).

He indicated that the new RS Constitution will dismiss “all reforms, deceptions, subterfuge, and intimidation.”

The RS government plans to create a new Constitution that will reclaim all competencies transferred to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) after the Dayton Agreement, despite the fact that parties from RS previously voted in favor of establishing new state institutions.

These include state-level judicial institutions, the Armed Forces of BiH, state police and intelligence agencies, as well as the Indirect Taxation Administration of BiH.

Dodik also stated that once the procedure in the Council of Peoples of the RS is completed, he intends to sign the decrees enacting the controversial laws that the RS National Assembly passed on February 27th.

“I will sign the laws, and they will become effective. What this means is that at 7:00 am, when the laws take effect, no premises of the Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in the RS will operate. No branch offices of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH will function, nor will their personnel or decisions be executed,” he emphasized.

He asserted that anyone who believes otherwise should give it a try.

“The state will stand its ground. We envision ourselves as a state. We perceive RS as a state-building entity, a crucial component in BiH with powers that have been stripped from us,” Dodik stated.

He reiterated that BiH High Representative Kristijan Šmit would be expelled from RS if he were to visit, asserting that Šmit “is no longer authorized to act.”

“If you learn that he is passing through Srpska, do inform us, and you’ll witness how we will elegantly expel him from RS,” Dodik said.

He noted that “the world has shifted,” and that RS “has been awaiting this change,” urging Croats in BiH to “revive plans for Herceg Bosna.”

Dodik declared that Serbian ministers in the Council of Ministers will not back the amendments to the laws regarding the Court of BiH and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH, but they will support the BiH budget’s adoption.

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