Independence Day

Turkey's national defense minister arrived in Georgia on May 26 for ceremonies marking its Independence Day, the 101st anniversary of the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Georgia.

US President Donald Trump has described the name deal between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as a "historic" one that will boost security, stability and prosperity in the entire region.

Mladen Ivanic's press adviser said on Friday that the Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite state presidency will call for Moscow ambassador Mustafa Mujezinovic to step down when the presidency holds its next session later this month.

A massive rally, organized by Macedonian organizations abroad, will take place in Athens on Sunday and is expected to gather hundreds of thousands of people, protesting against the use of "Macedonia" in the name of the neighboring former Yugoslav republic FYROM.

Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik said on Thursday evening that plans are underway to mark the disputed Day of Republika Srpska on January 9, even though the state Constitutional Court declared the holiday unconstitutional.

Dodik also said that members of the Bosnian armed forces would not be allowed to participate.

Milorad Dodik warned on Wednesday that Republika Srpska coud leave Bosnia and Herzegovina if the state Constitutional Court doesn't rule against the country's Independence Day and Statehood Day after already ruling the annual Day of Republika Srpska holiday unconstitutional.

PHOTO: TANJUG/ SAVA RADOVANOVIC

Bakir Izetbegovic says that "even the attempt" of the RS to secede from Bosnia would lead to a conflict with unforeseeable consequences for the Balkans.

U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Maureen Cormack said on Wednesday that the U.S. introduced individual sanctions against RS President Milorad Dodik.

"Separatists" from the ranks of the Bosnian Serbs have taken "a second step toward secession."

This is what the website euobserver.com said in its report about Monday's celebration of the RS Day national holiday, celebrated in the Serb Republic (RS), the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) are now making the same mistake the Serbs naively made in the former Yugoslavia," says Milorad Dodik.

As a result, "they have everyone against them," the president of the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Serb Republic (RS), told the Croatian daily Vecernji List.