Bosnian Serbs 'Need MPs in Belgrade Parliament'

The head of the Republika Srpska's Representative Office in the US, Obrad Kesic, says Serbs from the mainly Serbian entity in Bosnia should have their own representatives in the parliament in Serbia, the Bosnian newspaper Nezavisne reported on Monday.

Kesic noted that Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina already have their own representation in the Croatian parliament, the newspaper said.

He added that there was a feeling in the Serbian diaspora that Serbia did not always take their interests into consideration, which had grown since Serbia scrapped its ministry for the diaspora and integrated it into the Foreign Ministry.

If the Serbian parliament contained representatives of the diaspora and the Serbian communities in the region, it would be a step in the right direction, he added.

Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, recently also said it would be good if Serbia's parliament contained representatives of Serbs who do not live in the country.

“Every Serb should [be able to] get citizenship of Serbia, to show their commitment to the land that we consider our homeland,” Dodik said.

He praised Serbia for speeding up the process by which diapora Serbs could get Serbian passports, adding that Serbs from Republika Srpska should also be able to vote in Serbian elections.

“The quota could be four or five lawmakers - two to three [for Serbs] from Montenegro, one for Macedonia and Western Europe,” he suggested.