Stano: EU does not tolerate behaviour that endanger Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty

On Thursday, the RS government said that in the next 30 days it would create an agreement that would be submitted to the other entity of Bosnia, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the peaceful “ ”.

Unfortunately, it is not the first time we have heard such statements. The EU is clear, and this has been repeated several times. The EU and all member states support Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty and territorial integrity“, Stano said.

He reiterated that Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order must be preserved, warning “serious consequences“of its offenders.

EU leaders decided in March to open membership negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. It received the candidate country's status for EU membership in December 2022.

Earlier Friday, the United States Embassy in Sarajevo said the RS government's proposal to separate from Bosnia and Herzegovina is dangerous and irresponsible, and that such a “would not imply independence, but the end for Republika Srpska”.

The RS government made the proposal for “Division” during a meeting held on the eve of the UN General Assembly session (OKB) on Thursday, where the resolution announcing July 11th International Memorial Day of Genocide Victims in Srebrenica was adopted.

Some EU member states did not vote for the adoption of the resolution. Hungary voted against, while Greece, Slovakia and Cyprus abstained.

Stano said the UN vote is an individual issue of each member state, but added that the EU as a bloc is clear that genocide in Srebrenica cannot be denied.

We, like the EU, are not a member of the UN. As far as the EU is concerned, we have a clear attitude and have regularly repeated every anniversary. Genocide in Srebrenica cannot be denied, nor can it be related“, he added.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague characterised crime in Srebrenica as genocide in 2007.

Serbian forces in this eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina region killed over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in July 1995.

For the genocide committed so far, more than 50 persons were sentenced to about 700 years in prison.

Among them are Republika Srpska's wartime president, Radovan Karadzic, and the general commander of the then Serbian Army, Ratko Mladic.