US: Republika Srpska secession implies its end

The embassy's response reportedly means the secession of Republika Srpska, naming it “a dangerous, irresponsible, anti-Dayton act that jeopardises Bosnia and Herzegovina's multiethnic integrity, sovereignty and character. These are essential American interests. The United States will protect them, among other things, by seeking responsibility from those who put them at risk”.

The government of Republika Srpska warned of the drafting of “agreement” on the eve of the UN General Assembly session, which adopted a resolution with which the International Day of the Memorial of Genocide Victims in Srebrenica declared July 11th in 1995.

UN adopts Srebrenica genocide resolution

The US Embassy said Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and his government tried to explain the decision with a host of lies and designers designed to intimidate public opinion in Republika Srpska, to draw it on this dangerous path.

“The facts are simple and clear. There is no international conspiracy to abolish Republika Srpska, and Mr. Dodik cannot isolate a single statement by any US official calling for its abolition”.

The response is said, among other things, that Bosnia's Constitution does not grant the right to secession of its constituent entities.

“Republika Srpska can only exist within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Republika Srpska's secession, or partition, does not mean independence for or end for Bosnia, but end for Republika Srpska”, said in response.

Mr Dodik's activities, said further in response, jeopardise the future within Euro-Atlantic institutions that Bosnia's citizens want. The road he proposes will ensure that citizens of Republika Srpska, their children and grandchildren do not have the peaceful and prosperous life in democracy they deserve, said the American Embassy's response in Sarajevo.

Milorad Dodik has often been threatened in the past for Serb-controlled territories to secede from Bosnia and join neighbouring Serbia. He and several other Bosnian Serb officials are under sanctions from the United States and Britain, in part for jeopardising a United States-backed peace agreement that ended the war in Bosnia, which left behind more than 100,000 people killed and millions displaced.

EU: Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order must be respected

The European Union expressed concern over Republika Srpska's initiatives that run counter to Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path, including its divisive actions and rhetoric, which are questioning the country's constitutional order, bloc spokesman Peter Stano said on Friday.

The member states have stressed that the sovereignty, land and constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina must be respected. Separation ideas will only isolate their authors even more than are already isolated and will bring more difficulties to citizens being held hostage by authors of these ideas and actions”, said Mr Stano.