The Republika Srpska is an entity within the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and neither the Republika Srpska, nor the Federation of BiH exist outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the US Embassy said in response to secession threats by Milorad Dodik, the President of the Serb-majority entity, warning that they would react in such scenario. Pročitaj više

“The BiH Constitution does not provide a right for an entity or any other sub-state unit to secede. The United States has repeatedly made it clear that it will act to counter anti-Dayton actions, and secession is an anti-Dayton action. Milorad Dodik is wrong if he thinks that the United States will stand aside while he pushes BiH toward conflict,” the US embassy said.

The comment comes a day after Dodik once again repeated the threats with secession in an interview broadcast by RTRS, a public broadcaster in Republika Srpska entity.

Dodik announced that the entity will immediately declare independence if High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt, whom Dodik calls “illegal”, imposes a law on state property.

Dodik's words sparked other reactions too, including that of MP Zlatko Miletic, who said it was about time for the institutions and the Office of the High Representative to “take certain measures” against Dodik.

“Are they scared of the consequences or is there another problem, I cannot tell. Those statements are harming the situation that is already complex,” said Miletic, former chief of police in the Federation entity.

Croatian historian Hrvoje Klasnic deems that Dodik was bluffing even before and it appeared he was threatening “with an empty gun.”

Commenting on Dodik claiming that he has “friends in the world” who would stop a possible international military intervention, if Republika Srpska secedes, Klasnic assumed he was speaking of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

“Orban has neither power nor will or competencies to engage in such arrangement. I cannot imagine anyone who would support something like that, moreover because we heard many times from NATO that they support integral Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he stressed.