There are no parallels between Bosnia’s Republika Srpska entity and Kosovo. Bosnia is a sovereign and internationally recognised state, both the US Embassy to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Office of the High Representatives (OHR) agree.
“The US Government's position on this issue is clear: as we have repeatedly said before, there are no parallels between the RS and Kosovo. Bosnia was a sovereign and internationally recognized state even before the Dayton Peace Agreement (which ended the war in Bosnia). The US is fully committed to the sovereignty of Bosnia. The RS and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity are the basic elements of the internal political organization of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the US Embassy told N1 following the RS President’s announcement that the RS will ask for a seat in the UN should Kosovo get it.
Furthermore, the said that the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Constitution of Bosnia do not give the right to any of the two Bosnian entities to secession. The existence of these two entities is completely dependent on the existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
RS President Milorad Dodik said that after Kosovo Albanians had unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008, the RS parliament had adopted a resolution stating that should new international principles and practices in recognition of the right of self-determination be implemented in the international community, the RS will seek official statehood status.
The OHR, which oversees the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, gave a similar statement to that of the US Embassy:
“Bosnia and Herzegovina is an internationally recognized state whose sovereignty and territorial integrity are guaranteed by the Dayton Peace Agreement, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international law. According to the Dayton Peace Agreement, the entities have no right to secession and exist only on the basis of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
