The property owned by Serbs in the Federation is worth tens of billions of euros. Persons of Serb nationality who have not been using their land in the FBiH for 20 years may lose it, but there is a way to prevent it.

This was confirmed in a statement for Nezavisne Novine by Đorđe Radanović, the President of the Committee for Protection of Rights of Serbs in the FBiH.

‘The owner should come to the police station operationally covering their property, and bring two copies of the paper reading, e.g. ‘I, Marko Marković, from the village of Lohovo, near Bihać, request the Bihać Police Station to ban access to my land in Lohovo to all persons other than the owners and co-owners.’ One copy should be surrendered to the police, and the other kept, after being stamped and dated,’ Radanović explained for Nezavisne Novine.

According to him, the other way is for a land owner to contact the local community, i.e. the municipality or city in which the property is located.

‘Request can be submitted in the municipality for the municipality to take all necessary actions to protect the property, including informing the Ministry of the Interior. A letter can also be sent to the Ministry of the Interior by e-mail. It is important to have proof, i.e. the 20-year period,’ explained Radanović, adding that heirs of the property can also do this, provided that they have a decision on inheritance.

All this, he adds, takes time, but once they complete it, they can relax. According to him, about 75 percent of the 400,000 Serbs who claim land rights in the Federation of BiH do not visit their property at all.

‘We have already entered a generation that, roughly, only knows the location of the village of origin of their parents,’ Radanović explained.

According to him, given the minimum price of two euros per square meter, excluding the Sarajevo Canton where real estate is more expensive, the property of Serbs in the FBiH is estimated at EUR 15 billion.

‘But we are talking about the minimum price, paid for poor-quality land, for example, at land acquisition for highway construction. So, we will not be wrong if we say that Serbs in the FBiH have property worth tens of billions of euros,’ said Radanović.

Banja Luka lawyer Milan Petković also notes that Serbs who have left their FBiH homes must enter into possession of those properties.

‘The most important thing is that there is no statute of limitations on property rights, but some rights of possession can be forfeited causing far-reaching consequences on restoration of such right. Owners of real estate in the FBiH should not leave anything to chance. Everyone should obtain all the necessary documents, engage experts, in order to protect their property,’ Petković, who is also the Vice President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, said in a statement for Nezavisne Novine.

According to a position from the Committee for Protection of Serbs’ Rights in the FBiH, the greatest danger for Serbs claiming land rights in the Federation of BiH is Article 58 of the FBiH Law on Real Rights. So, in practice, if a Serb is not making appearance or claiming ownership of the land, and a Bosniak or Croat is using the Serb’s land, upon expiration of a 20-year period, the Bosniak or Croat becomes entitled to acquire ownership of the land.

Radanović states that procedure of establishing a single cadaster is underway in Srpska.

‘So far, the Republic Administration for Geodetic and Property Affairs has spent more than eight million BAM on postage costs in order to invite every possessor or owner in writing to come and participate in the procedure. At the same time, the FBiH has spent zero BAM on written invitations,’ Radanović points out.

As they emphasize in the Committee, Bosniaks and Croats are blocking resolution of the status rights of Serbs. The problem, they add, is that there are only about 45,000 Serbs in the FBiH, and in 1991 there were 541,000.

Source: Nezavisne novine

Photo: N.N.