The Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the leader of the SNSD, Milorad Dodik, stated that March 1st, the Independence Day of BiH, “will not be celebrated and that it will not be considered a holiday in Republika Srpska (RS)”, the BiH entity.
“The Constitutional Court decides only what is in the interest of Sarajevo and Bosniaks, and nothing that has the interest for Serbian positions. It is even worse for us than it was during the Ottoman rule which lasted for 500 years”, said Dodik in Banja Luka.
He noted that the Constitutional Court of BiH can decide on that as many times as it wants, but he will not implement it.
“Let them send prosecutors to me,” said Dodik.
He also said BiH was “hostile and abnormal”.
“RS was defined on January 9th with the intention of being independent. Autonomy is the legitimate position of our people. We are celebrating is January 9th as the Day of the Republic, and you cannot change that fact, ” Dodik told.
BiH will celebrate tomorrow (on March 1st) the 29th anniversary of a referendum where nearly two-thirds majority decided they want to live in an independent state. Citizens voted with responding to this question: “Are you in favor of a sovereign and independent BiH, a state of equal citizens, the people of BiH – Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats, and members of other nations living in it?”
The referendum was attended by 2.073.568 voters, which represented a turnout of 63.6 percent, and almost everyone who went to the referendum voted for independence, while only 0.3 percent or 6.037 people voted against it.
The results of the referendum lead to the international recognition of BiH, as an independent state. Since then, March 1st has been celebrated as the Independence Day of BiH.
