Serbia’s Defense Minister and leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Milos Vucevic said Belgrade and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic are under pressure to “discipline” Banja Luka and Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik.

Vucevic told the Serbian state TV (RTS) that Serbia respects Bosnia and Herzegovina as a neighbouring friendly state comprised of two equal entities and three constitutive peoples.

He said that “unlike some political structures in Sarajevo,” Belgrade very clearly says that it respects Bosnia and Herzegovina’s territorial integrity.

“However, the political elite in Sarajevo does not quite respect the territorial integrity of Serbia, but is unable to formally implement this when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija because of Republika Srpska and the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Vucevic. (Kosovo and Metohija is the official name for what the Serbian authorities consider to be the country’s southern province)