Bosnian Serb leader awards Putin with medal of honor

BELGRADE, Serbia

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik awarded Russian President Vladimir Putin with the highest medal of honor for his “patriotic concern and love” for Republika Srpska, the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Putin is responsible for developing and strengthening cooperation and political and friendly relations between Republika Srpska and Russia,'' Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska, said Sunday.

Russian Ambassador to Sarajevo Igor Kalabuhov said the award confirms the friendship between the nations.

Kalabuhov said the award is a confirmation of the determination of the two nations to strengthen their friendship.

The awards ceremony was held in the city of Banja Luka to commemorate the National Day of Republika Srpska, when Bosnian Serbs declared their own state in Bosnia on Jan. 9, 1992.

Dodik is expected to visit Russia, where he will present the medal himself to Putin.

Meanwhile, Bosnian Serbs celebrated the anniversary of the founding of the small entity Republika Srpska in defiance of Bosnia’s top court ruling.

Bosnian Serbs consider Jan. 9 to be their small state's most important holiday.

However, in late November 2015, Bosnia's Constitutional Court ruled that celebrating Republika Srpska Statehood Day could be discriminatory to other ethnic groups in the country.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina was established by the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the Bosnian War in 1995. It consists of two Bosniaks, two Serbs, two Croats and three foreign judges and its decisions are legally binding.

However, Serbs in Republika Srpska overwhelmingly passed a controversial referendum on a "national holiday" in September 2016.

Over 99% of voters in the Serb-majority territory chose to make Jan. 9 “Statehood Day,” fueling fears that the referendum could be a first step towards seeking independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country torn apart by violent ethnic conflict in the 1990s.

Prosecutors also summoned, Dodik to testify about the controversial referendum on his entity's "national holiday."