The threat coming from former Bosnian Army general Naser Oric is disturbing to the Serb people, but Republika Srpska (RS), Bosnia’s Serb-dominated part, can protect itself, RS President Milorad Dodik said on Sunday.

Dodik said he met with neighbouring Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic, and told him how Oric’s statement added to the already raised tensions in Bosnia.  

Oric spoke during a promotion of a book about his eastern Bosnian enclave, where in 1995 more than 8,000 of his fellow citizens were systematically executed by Bosnian Serb forces. The massacre was defined by two international courts as an act of genocide.  

“When they were telling me, I thought there will never be war… But, the next war will happen a bit earlier than we thought,” he said. 

“As Matija Beckovic, their own, Serbian academic, said: ‘We shall pursue. Anything can happen except us not pursuing and it has never happened that those who pursued have not succeeded, we shall pursue’,” Oric said.  

This prompted a reaction from both the Office of the High Representative (OHR), as well as the US Embassy in Bosnia. Both condemned his statement, labeling it as aggressive and unacceptable.  

“I think this is all part of his (Oric’s) frustration and I want to send him the message that the RS can protect itself (…),” Dodik said.  

“Republika Srpska has shown its commitment toward peace and stability. At the same time, nobody should have any doubt that we will seriously defend anything that’s ours,” he said.

The RS President said Oric’s statements are disturbing the Serb people but that they are also uniting Serbs around the idea that they must maintain their collectivity.

“Institutions in Republika Srpska are preparing and are ready to respond,” Dodik said, adding that any attempt to endanger the RS will be interpreted as an attack, “and they need to know this.”