The President of Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Milorad Dodik, spoke on Thursday in Banja Luka with the head of the European Union Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EU's Special Representative Johann Sattler about the EU integration process.

Dodik pointed out that this entity supports BiH's European path, on which it wants to be visible in accordance with the coordination mechanism and with full respect for the constitutional position, as well as the Dayton structure of BiH.

The RS President stated that 14 key priorities from the Opinion of the European Commission should be resolved together, not separately, and emphasized that BiH is a negotiating party on the way to the EU.

Dodik told Sattler that he expects a state-level agreement on the resolution and unblocking of many important strategic projects in the near future and that the Republika Srpska will not tolerate further blockades.

“Referring to Ambassador Sattler's congratulation to all citizens on the occasion of March 1, the Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dodik said that ‘March 1 can be a holiday of the Bosniak people and that the RS will not dispute that, but that March 1 is not, nor can it be, a joint holiday in Bosnia and Herzegovina’,” his cabinet said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Bosnia and Herzegovina celebrated 31 years since the citizens decided in a referendum on 1 March 1992, by an almost two-thirds majority that their country should declare independence from Yugoslavia.

Citizens voted by answering one question: “Are you in favour of a sovereign and independent BiH, a state of equal citizens, the people of BiH – Muslims, Serbs, Croats and members of other nationalities living in the country?” The results showed that they were.

A total of 2,073,568 voters participated in the referendum, which represented a turnout of 63.6 percent. Of the total number of voters, 99.7 percent voted for independence, and 0.3 percent voted against that decision. The results of the referendum were accepted on 6 March 1992 in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On 7 April 1992, the United States and then European Economic Community recognised Bosnia as an independent state, and the country joined the United Nations on 22 May.