Serbian President’s Statehood Day visit sparks tensions in Bosnia
A significant number of Bosniak politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) condemned the gathering in Banja Luka, describing it as a provocatio, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.
BiH Presidency member Denis Bećirović stated that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić should know that there is no concept of statehood for the Republika Srpska, as this entity has never been and will never be a state.
The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) called Vučić's visit to Banja Luka for Serbia’s Statehood Day an act of open aggression and the most blatant attack on BiH’s territorial integrity to date.
BiH Defense Minister Zukan Helez claimed that Vučić arrived in Banja Luka like a "refugee" because he is unwelcome in any major city in Serbia, where support for student protests is growing.
"By marking a so-called shared holiday between Serbia and the smaller Bosnian entity in its neighboring state, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vučić aims to create a crisis in BiH and the region while diverting attention—at least temporarily—from Serbia’s socio-political turmoil," Helez said.
He assessed that there is no difference between Vučić’s policies and those of Slobodan Milošević, except that the latter sought to expand Serbia across the Drina River through tanks and aggression, while Vučić does so by continuously provoking crises.
Notably, Republika Srpska’s leader Milorad Dodik welcomed his "friend from across the Drina River," Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, at Banja Luka airport to mark Sretenje under the slogan "United and Proud."
Although it is unclear why Vučić is celebrating Serbia’s Statehood Day outside his own country, it is undeniable that marking "Republika Srpska’s Statehood Day" represents yet another source of tension stemming from the principles of the so-called All-Serb Assembly, which align with aspirations for RS’s secession from BiH.
Another significant detail is that this meeting and commemoration are happening at a time of the greatest political crisis faced by Vučić and Dodik in their political careers.
