Serbia's Honorary Consulate opened in Pale on Friday, the town some twenty kilometres away from Sarajevo. Among the attendees were Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Bosnia's Foreign Trade Minister Stasa Kosarac.

The Government of Serbia appointed Dejan Ljevnaic, general manager of the Jahorina Olympic Centre, to the post of the honorary consul.

Dacic said at the opening ceremony that Serbia is dedicated to the strengthening of cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina and its two entities.

“We are planning to open another diplomatic-consular representation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Bijeljina,” he also announced.

Minister Kosarac, the Bosnian Serb politician, said that Republika Srpska, Bosnia's Serb-majority entity, recognises Serbia as a leader.

“We will not wait for the Federation BiH (the Bosniak-Croat entity) to overcome the prejudices, but we are strengthening the relations with Serbia,” he added.

In addition to its embassy in Sarajevo, the Republic of Serbia also has a consulate general in Banja Luka, while the Consular Office of Serbia operates in Trebinje, in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The decision on the opening of the consulate in Pale was made by the Government of Serbia in mid-November this year.

According to the Official Gazette, the government is “opening a consulate of the Republic of Serbia in Bosnia and Herzegovina, headed by a honorary consul, based in Pale covering the consular area which includes the territory of the municipality of Pale.”

The town of Pale is located above Sarajevo and was used as the headquarters of the political authorities and the military of the Republika Srpska under convicted war criminals Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic.