Proposed secession of Republika Srpska

Tensions surged in Bosnia and Herzegovina as US F-16 aircraft flew over the nation, displaying solidarity mere hours before the disputed "holiday" in Republika Srpska, a region predominantly inhabited by ethnic Serbs, branded unconstitutional by Sarajevo.

He said that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vui, made Serbia powerful and strong.
Dodik pointed out that Srpska is interested in a strong Serbia, which is an inspiration and strength for it.
Milorad Dodik pointed out that Aleksandar Vui is the first Serbian president who established concrete forms of cooperation and assistance to the Republika Srpska.

Bosnian Republika Srpska's President, Milorad Dodik, sparked controversy after expressing his aspiration to become the president of an independent country by 2030 during an interview with Bosnia's TV3.

In the midst of Russia's failed mutiny, Dodik - one of the few politicians in the world who in past years has met Putin regularly, almost every year - may have tried to draw the Kremlin to support his two-decade-long separatist dream, some officials have said. 

The National Assembly in the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska Entity adopted amendments to the Law on Publishing Laws and Other Regulations on Wednesday evening to stop publishing decisions by the Office of the High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the entity's Official Gazette, which would render them invalid.

The Kosovo-Serbia dialogue remains one of the main issues of concern in the Western Balkans, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday heard.

State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet warned: "We are not seeing great effort on the implementation of this agreement by either party."

Bosnian Council of Ministers, the country's state-level executive government, voted on Thursday in favour of a construction of a new gas pipeline from Serbia.

The so-called Eastern Interconnection will bring natural gas to cities and towns in the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity.

The Bosniak member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Denis Becirovic, has condemned the assembly of Republika Srpska, one of two entities in Bosnia, after it called on a state Constitutional Court judge, Zlatko Knezevic, to resign from his position.

"Dodik introduced me to RS's attempts to preserve its rights and obligations from the Dayton Agreement. It is the essence of the functioning of BiH and we will always support what is agreed upon by all three constituent nations," said Serbian President Aleksandar Vui.

Experts ponder the motivation behind an announced anti-LGBT law in Bosnia's Republika Srpska. Whether or not it gets adopted, they say the damage has already been done.