On Dodik’s announcement of a referendum
‘All political and legal means to protect the Republic of Srpska’
The President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik has announced on his Twitter account a referendum on the secession of the Republic of Srpska by the end of the year. Do you think that the referendum will be held within that deadline? What would it mean for the Republic of Srpska if the citizens vote in favour of secession?
“When you talk about the announcements of the referendum on the status, and not the secession of the Republic of Srpska, then it is very important to contextualize things. Such announcements are always a response to certain processes which grossly violate the Dayton and constitutional position of the Republic of Srpska within B&H. We cannot and will never accept the process of tacit centralization of B&H because we did not agree to that in Dayton. We are legalists and stand for what the Constitution and the Dayton Peace Agreement say. Therefore, the responsibility does not lie with us, but with those who want to illegally disrupt the agreement that took a lot of effort to make, as well as the balance between the three constituent nations. We will always oppose such attempts, and we will use all the political and legal means to protect the constitutional position of the Republic of Srpska.”