Although he does not object to any part of the Agreement’s text and believes that the Agreement should be adopted, Dr Silajdžić did not support the Decision on ratification because the Decision defines that it is based on the Article of the BiH Constitution authorizing the BiH Presidency for adopting and ratifying “international agreements” and on the basis of the Law on the procedure for adopting and executing “international agreements”.

Certain BiH officials’ statements claiming that there is a difference between “international” and so-called “interstate” agreements is completely unfounded, as well as their claim that an individual or a private company can be subject of an international agreement. International law recognizes only international treaties, which can be reached between two or several states or between the states and international organizations, and agreements, which are reached with private persons, nongovernmental organizations or similar subjects. International agreements therefore cannot be reached with SPC because that church, in contrast to Vatican, is not a sovereign state or an international organization.

Considering these facts, Dr Silajdžić has on several occasions offered adopting the agreement with the same text, on the basis of the Law on freedom of speech that gives the BiH Presidency explicit responsibility for signing agreements with churches and religious communities. Had this proposal been accepted, the Agreement with SPC would have gone into force six months ago, because this law envisaged a more simplified procedure for adopting such agreements.

The matter is not of symbolic nature, but it draws a series of legal and political consequences. Treating SPC as a state or an international organization would expose BiH to the proceedings before the international judicial bodies if misunderstandings were to take place in relation to the agreements’ application and could create privileges for SPC that are only reserved for the states and the international organizations, for example immunity, invulnerability of objects and other privileges. Considering these perils, the Decision on ratification of the agreement with SPC based on the wrong and impermissible constitutional provisions is destructive for vital interest of the BiH Federation- reads the press release of BiH Presidency Chairman Dr Haris Silajdžić’s Cabinet.