Defiant Bosnian Serbs Celebrate Banned ‘National Day’

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Defiant Bosnian Serbs Celebrate Banned ‘National Day’

Celebrations in the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska saw a ratcheting up of independence rhetoric as well as high-level spats over the participation of members of the country’s armed forces.
NEWS 09 Jan 17
Defiant Bosnian Serbs Celebrate Banned ‘National Day’

Celebrations in the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska saw a ratcheting up of independence rhetoric as well as high-level spats over the participation of members of the country’s armed forces.

Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik used the occasion of the biggest-ever celebration of the Day of Republika Srpska, which went ahead on Monday in defiance of a ban by Bosnia's Constitutional Court, to demand greater autonomy for the entity.

The Republika Srpska leader suggested further that unless this were granted, the entity would not remain a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Speaking on Monday morning in RS’s administrative centre, Banja Luka, ahead of a grand parade and other festivities, Dodik said Serbs were primarily interested in a return to the original entity powers provided for by the Dayton Peace Agreement and that, if they were not given, nobody could make Republika Srpska remain part of the country.

Read More At: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnian-serbs-hold-national-day-despite-ban-01-09-2017