Topic: Determining the Legitimacy of Secession Movements and Obligations of Parent States
Country: Serbia
Delegate Name: Jack Norman
School: Grand Rapids City High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Serbia position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
The issue addressed in this paper is the legitimacy or lack thereof of secession movements as well as the obligations of parent States. In our history we have moved to unite the Serbian states. In the past we have been staunchly for the secession of the Republika Srpska from Bosnia. It was not within their right to stop a group of people they feel has not done an adequate job of governing. We feel as though we wielded the spear of legitimacy in this engagement. We believe this attempt to leave would pose no threat to the territory of Bosnia nor was that our intention. We are firmly on the side of legitimate seceedence from a sociopolitical relationship that no longer benefits both parties involved e.g the relationship of the Republika Srpska with the Bosnian government. We would stand with any state attempting to follow through with a similar movement. We believe it is the obligation of parent states to provide a mutual benefit to not only the parent but the "child state" if you will. It is also the responsibility of the parent state to supply military and infrastructural aid. We would be willing to meet with UN leaders to negotiate terms of secession of a state. We would however have to insist that a state will be granted secession unless it can be shown there would be crippling instability in the parent state caused by the secession. We believe this agreement would be more than fair as it would bring a country's annexation out of the realm of the arbitrary.
