Republika Srpska

Bosnian Presidency member Milorad Dodik (R) shakes hand with Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Linhart (L) as he arrives for a meeting at the Bosnian Presidency, 15 October 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/FEHIM DEMIR

"If people want to live, they must be ready to die, if they want peace, they must be ready for war. It would inevitably go first to Brcko, on the entity lines, and where the returnees are, because they would probably experience inconveniences, so we would have to protect them and the state, Brcko", said Izetbegovi.

Dodik blaming foreign powers for the tensions in Bosnia, accused them of wanting to create "a Muslim state" and warned that any move by the European Union to exclude the Republika Srpska from its initiatives in the country would only "cement the independence" of the entity.

He stated that he did not know on what individuals from the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina based their claims about the impossibility of a peaceful separation.

According to Dodik, this could include pulling Bosnian Serb soldiers out of Bosnia's joint armed forces and re-establishing Republika Srpska's own military, as well as withdrawing from the country's indirect taxation system.

A year after an investigation was opened into the disclosure by several media outlets of the identity of a protected witness in the trial of five ex-policemen accused of involvement in the Srebrenica genocide, the prosecution has not announced any progress in the case.

He expressed the belief that Republika Srpska would be an independent state in 2030.
The only thing that can endanger Republika Srpska, Dodik said, are hesitant national leaders who would easily agree to give up what they fought for here.

The District Public Prosecution in East Sarajevo has filed an appeal against the verdict clearing Milenko Gojgolovic of beating and raping a female detainee at the Susica detention camp in Vlasenica in June 1992.

Gojgolovic was a member of the Territorial Defence force in Vlasenica, which was then renamed the Vlasenica Light Infantry Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army's Drina Corps.

That is the message from the US Embassy regarding the statement of the Serbian member of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina that official Banja Luka will ask for the rejection of all decisions imposed by the High Representative.

Officers from the State Investigation and Protection Agency arrested Radovan Veljovic on Wednesday in the Foca area of south-east Bosnia and Herzegovina.