Camil Durakovic, newly elected Vice President of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity, said in one of his first statements after the ballot recount and after the central electoral authority confirmed the preliminary results, that he will assume his duties with “open heart and extended hand.”

Durakovic, who was elected as the Bosniak Vice President of the Serb-majority entity, said no one should expect him to abolish Republika Srpska or change Milorad Dodik, the Republika Srpska President and the leader of the ruling SNSD party.

“Those are the utopian policies that someone has been insisting on for 27 years and we got nothing out of it but the fact that out of 300,000 Bosniaks who lived here more than 200,000 left, and that's not what I want, what I want is to change that political paradigm and extend a hand to Dodik, to try to make it better for my people and everyone who lives here,” said Durakovic.

He stressed he would protect the integrity of his people but will also strengthen the entire community. He also pointed out the issue of Srebrenica, Bosnian eastern town located in Republika Srpska entity, known mostly for the 1995 mass killing that international courts ruled was an act of genocide.

“I will try not to have Srebrenica be humiliated and that genocide is not a subject of discussion. Court had its say and there is no compromise as far as I am concerned,” he underlined.

Commenting on the election process in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he said he did not expect drastic changes but that it is necessary to accept the Central Election Commission as a state body, which determines election results.

“Whatever they determine should be accepted but it is necessary to insist on certain changes.

As for his own election to the post of the Republika Srpska Vice President, Durakovic said he considers himself a “phenomenon.”

“I was told I stood no chance against great policies. I let people decide if they want me as a politician. The votes I won in the ballot recount proved they were the same. It tells I have worked sincerely,” he stressed.