Dodik: We are learning from Crimea's example

BELGRADE - Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik said on Saturday the referendum in Crimea was a democratic expression of the people's will, and that RS was observing closely all other similar events in the world.

"We see what is happening in Italy. We see that Scotland will vote in a referendum soon. Something is happening in Catalonia. Those are extremely valuable experiences for RS," Dodik told a joint news conference after a meeting with Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

"We are observing world events very closely and we will follow the best examples from the world once the time for that comes," he noted.

He said he had informed Vucic about RS's view concerning the situation in Crimea and Ukraine, adding that he understood Serbia's position considering the unfair international policy regarding Kosovo.

The secession of Serbia's southern province of Kosovo was supported by many of the countries that now say such a thing is not legal in Ukraine, he pointed out.
"Yet everything was legal in Kosovo, both bombing the Serbian people and undermining territorial integrity," he remarked.

The western countries did not have trouble supporting a threat to Serbia's territorial integrity at the time, but they have a problem with it when Crimea is in question, which was a part of Russia historically, Dodik said.
"I think the referendum in Crimea was a democratic expression of the people's will," he stated, adding that a legitimate and legal referendum should be recognized.

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