BiH Presidency member Milorad Dodik stated that he will attend Wednesday's rally "Sloboda" in Banja Luka, which is formally organized by the Veterans' Organization of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, however, the RS opposition claims its organizers are Dodik’s political party, which was also confirmed by the European peacekeeping force in the country.

Dodik told Federalna TV that he would talk to the representatives of veterans’ categories and that he believes that it would be a peaceful, dignified gathering from which messages would be sent.

“There will be those who, with their engagement in the Army of the Republika Srpska, gave their contribution and defended the RS, and those who feel threatened by the loss of the property, because they fear they are losing the RS,” said Dodik.

If you lose the property, Dodik asked, what’s the point of the RS?

The rally was announced just days after the international community’s High Representative in Bih, Christian Schmidt, in charge of overseeing the implementation of the civilian aspect of the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the 1992-1995 war in BiH, suspended the RS Law on Immovable Property, which gave this entity the right to dispose of the country’s property, including forests, rivers, land and all the resources on the territory of that entity, without the permission of the state.

Dodik warned that the Law on State Property would be the death penalty for the Republika Srpska, because regulating that issue at the BiH level would mean taking away property from the RS, which would lose a significant part of its subjectivity.

“Seizure of property means the transfer will be regulated by the BiH Law. This would mean that BiH is considered competent or is competent for property. Thus, the RS would lose a significant part of its subjectivity. The property is not the property of BiH, but the property of the entities,” Dodik told Federal Television.