Under pressure from the West, Republika Srpska reversed its decision on the pandemic
The President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a member of the Republika Srpska confederation, Zeljka Cvijanovic, revoked the decree to counter the spread of false news and panic during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The corresponding decree signed by the President of the Republic of Serbia was published in the official publication of the Serbian entity. Now the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs will have to cancel all fines imposed within the framework of the canceled resolution, in particular 1000 convertible Bosnian marks (more than 41 thousand rubles) for posting messages and articles on social networks, blogs and the media that do not correspond to reality and indiscriminately criticize the current epidemiological situation in the Republika Srpska, as well as the work of authorities and medical institutions.
Zeljka Cvijanovic
“Together with the Chief of Staff of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Kathleen Kavalek, I welcome the decision of the RS to withdraw the order prohibiting panic and disorder that could harm media freedom,” OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir tweeted.
Earlier, Désir and Kavalek called on the authorities of the Republic of Srpska to repeal the decree adopted by the Government of the Republic of Srpska in March at the suggestion of the Republic's Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"The reasons for adopting the decree ( repealing the resolution – ed. ) are that, during its implementation, citizens adhered to the measures and instructions of the competent authorities and were informed of the epidemiological situation through official notifications from the competent authorities," the Ministry of Internal Affairs press release stated. "Taking into account the above, it was possible to achieve the conditions for terminating the Decree."
At the same time, the media cite the true reasons for the cancellation of the RS government’s resolution: criticism from the OSCE, international human rights and journalistic organizations. As well as the local pro-Western opposition, represented by the Serbian Democratic Party, a young parliamentarian, the heir to a wealthy family living in Europe, Drasko Stanivukovic and the Justice for David party, which, with the support of Washington and Brussels, is consistently seeking the overthrow of the current patriotic government.
At the same time, the effectiveness of the authorities of the Republic of Sakha during the coronavirus epidemic was noted even by politicians and officials of the neighboring Federation (Muslim-Croatian) BiH, where it has not yet been possible to keep the situation under control. Therefore, there is a great desire of Sarajevo and its Western curators to undermine the RS from within and, unfortunately, being in an unfavorable environment and not possessing full sovereignty, the authorities of the Serbian entity have to yield to outside pressure.
Under Western pressure, Republika Srpska reversed its pandemic decision.