The President of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska (RS), expressed hope all Serb representatives at the state level will reach a joint stance, stressing that this was a necessity due to challenges and pressures on RS.

Zeljka Cvijanovic said this was a conclusion that the Executive Board of the ruling Alliance of the Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) passed on Friday, inviting all the RS-based parties in Bosnia’s State Parliament to form a strong coalition for RS.

The RS opposition will hopefully recognise the need and responsibility of acting together at the state level “in order to remove the pressure from RS,” she said.

After five years in office as the RS Prime Minister, Cvijanovic ran in October election for the post of the RS President as the candidate of the SNSD, the strongest Serb party in the country, and won. The party’s leader, Milorad Dodik, won in the race for the State tripartite Presidency as the Serb and the RS representative.

Beside their entity governments, Bosnia’s semi-autonomous parts, Federation (FBiH) and RS, also elect representatives in the state-level institutions.

There is a need for all those who got the support of the RS citizens for the state-level to join together with the election winners, Cvijanovic said.

“We offered what is in the interest of RS and it would be important for every politician, aware of challenges lying ahead of us and pressures that come from political Sarajevo, our surrounding ant the global level, to understand that,” said the RS President.