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SARAJEVO, December 30 (FENA) - President of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Bakir Izetbegović believes that the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the judgments of the Constitutional Court of BiH, which, at first glance are conflicting, could be implemented through the revival of the so-called "April package" of reforms.
As he mentioned at today's traditional New Year's press conference, the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) and the SDA can only define a model, the basic contours of the solution, and they are contained in the "April package" complete or modified, but of course with the support of other parliamentary political parties.
Would that be possible considering the resistance from the entity of Republika Srpska? Izetbegović believes that it is with the strong support of the international community, which is showing signs of determination lately and with the strong engagement of the new US administration.
"The first step is to remove the possibility of blockades that we are currently suffering from and the ban on genocide denial, verdicts related to war crimes, celebrating war criminals, etc. In a series of next steps that await us on BiH's European path, we need to voluntarily and unanimously reach a constitutional reorganization of the country that will not be based on war and ethnic divisions," said the SDA leader.
He expressed a belief that it is possible to achieve this, although it seems impossible at the moment, but sooner or later the citizens of BiH will understand the simple truth - equality and justice, and thus prosperity and a better life cannot be guaranteed by entities, cantons and ethnic leaders.
"It is an outdated model, a relic of war based on fears of domination. Only the full and developed rule of law guarantees all of the above, and the full and efficient rule of law is guaranteed only by a professional, independent, impartial and efficient judiciary," Izetbegović underlined.
He expressed hope that the resignation of the President of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), Milan Tegeltija, was the first step in that direction.
He also announced that after the New Year's holidays, he would meet with the HDZ leader Dragan Čović, with whom he would discuss the composition of the FBiH Government and the complete or modified "April package".
"The HDZ and the HNS have a naive belief that these issues can be resolved without constitutional amendments, only by adopting the law. I don't see how that's possible. I think there will be fundamental constitutional changes. They should include everything that the HDZ and the SDA insist on, but also what is acceptable for the Democratic Front, which is a coalition partner, and I will not do anything until I agree on it with the DF leader Željko Komšić," Izetbegović noted.
He believes that in that sense, the international community should talk with the Serb side in order to move towards the implementation of the complete "April package", which is very good because it envisages one BiH president and two vice-presidents, strengthens the role of the Council of Ministers and increases the number of deputies and delegates. That, he says, would make decision-making easier, which is why he hopes that such a thing will be achieved in the next year.
He also referred to the issue of the migrant crisis, noting that everyone must finally take responsibility for this problem.
"Minister of Security of BiH Selmo Cikotić is the only one who is working on it, and everyone should take responsibility. I am thinking first of the Presidency of BiH, which should make a decision on the engagement of the Armed Forces of BiH, and there is also the problem with the Border Police, which has one police officer at every 25 kilometers of the border. The responsibility is also on the cantons and municipalities that do not want to see this problem," Izetbegović added.
Izetbegović mentioned that he expects good relations with the neighbors, but he problematized the agreement that Serbia signed with the entity of Republika Srpska on the construction of hydro-power plants on the Drina River, reminding that only the state, and not the entities, according to the judgment of the Constitutional Court of BiH, has the right to dispose of state land.
"Serbia wants to help Srebrenica, so they set aside two million KM, and at the same time they flooded the land for which they should pay two million KM a year, but they have not done so in 25 years. Croatia's attitude towards our property and resources is similar because they are exploiting the resources of a small and devastated country," Izetbegović concluded.
(FENA) S. R.
