Serb entity to hold referendum on independence: Bosnian Serb leader

BELGRADE, Serbia

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik said on Friday that a referendum on the independence of the Republika Srpska entity will be held on a date to be determined later.

"There is a decision to cede, but a specific day hasn’t yet been set. A lot of research has to be done, the analysis has to be completed. We would like to do it now, but there are two other parties involved in this issue. Of course, it takes time," Dodik told Russian news agency Tass in an interview on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in the Russian city.

Dodik said that remaining within Bosnia and Herzegovina "is synonymous with a loss of time and opportunities" for Republika Srpska, one of two entities making up the country, along with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, based on the 1995 Dayton Agreement.

"Our task now is to start the negotiation process. But we are sure that at this stage there is already enough historical, general civilizational maturity and understanding that this should happen and will happen," Dodik said.

He said that despite the promised move, which would effectively split the country in a notoriously divided region, Serbs do not want to create instability.

"We proposed to Bosnia and Herzegovina our withdrawal from the country, to terminate the Dayton Agreement. We are moving in this direction," said Dodik.

Dodik also said that Republika Srpska may join Serbia, its larger neighbor to the east, after its projected secession from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Yes, most probably it would be natural, absolutely historically justified, that the countries where the majority of the population is represented by the Serbian people would unite in a single structure and community, but this is the task of future generations and the political decisions of both countries," said Dodik.

He cited the 1990 reunification of East and West Germany as an example.

The Dayton Agreement, signed in 1995, ended the Bosnian War by establishing a framework for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It divided the country into two entities – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska – under a central government with a rotating presidency among Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs, and included provisions for human rights and the return of refugees.