The US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued a statement on Friday, following the announcement by the president of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity Milorad Dodik that the Republika Srpska government took a formal decision to propose RS “disassociation” from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“This is RS secession by another name, and it is dangerous, irresponsible, anti-Dayton, and puts the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and multiethnic character of BiH at risk. These are core U.S. interests. The United States will defend and protect them by, among other things, holding those who put them at risk accountable for their actions”, the statement reads.

The Embassy noted that Dodik and the RS government have tried to justify this decision based upon a set of lies and disinformation designed to frighten the RS public into following them down this dangerous path.

“The facts are simple and straightforward. There is no international conspiracy to abolish the RS, and Mr. Dodik cannot point to a single statement by an American official calling for the abolition of the RS. BiH is not a union of two entities. As the Dayton Peace Agreement and the BiH Constitution explicitly state, BiH is the successor state of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The BiH Constitution does not provide entities or any other sub-state unit with the right of secession or “disassociation.” The RS can only exist inside BiH. RS secession or “disassociation” does not mean RS independence or the end of BiH, it means the end of the RS.

Mr. Dodik’s actions put at risk a future inside Euro-Atlantic institutions that the people of BiH, including the RS, want. His proposed path would ensure RS residents, their children, and their grandchildren do not have the peaceful, prosperous, and democratic lives they deserve”, the US Embassy's statement reads.