Serbia is against the holding of the Republika Srpska referendum

BELGRADE/NEW YORK - Serbia is against the holding of the Republika Srpska referendum, but it supports the territorial integrity of Republika Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina in line with the Dayton Peace Agreement, Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic said in New York late Wednesday.

It was very difficult to publicly announce such a position, but our government still did that, Vucic said at the EastWest Institute.

At the opening ceremony of a new motorway in Banjaluka I said that to a group of about 5,000 Serbs, urging a calming of the situation - to tell you the truth, I have not heard other Balkan leaders say something similar, Vucic said.

Vucic added that he had no problem whatsoever with saying the Serbian government had not backed the referendum, noting that this was a clear government position also supported by the president of Serbia.