The President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, said that the Statehood Day of Serbia was also a holiday for Serbs in the Republic of Srpska, and that Srpska, formed on 9 January 1992, and Serbia were two organized states of the Serbian people.

Dodik told journalists in Belgrade that when Serbia celebrated Statehood Day, it was celebrated by all Serbs in the world, because it was the date on which the Serbian people had rehabilitated their statehood for the first time after 400 years, but also the framework in which Serbs could organize their identity and fight for their rights.

- This is equally a holiday for us in the Republic of Srpska. And we have two statehood holidays, one is 9 January and, naturally, today’s Serbian Statehood Day. Together with Serbia, we also mark 15 September, the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag, as our common holiday – said Dodik, who attended the ceremonial presentation of decorations on the occasion of Serbia’s Statehood Day at the Presidency of Serbia.

Dodik pointed out that it was absolutely important to celebrate these holidays together and noted that the good practice of celebrating all important holidays together in Serbia and the Republic of Srpska relaxed not only relations between political elites, but also among citizens wishing to see it.

The President of Srpska said that Serbia was currently in complex international circumstances on its Statehood Day, and its leadership was under constant pressure.

– So is the Republic of Srpska, for which some predicted the end a long time ago, but, well, it has not happened or come true for them. But they have not given up trying to impose a framework on the Republic of Srpska in which it would be an empty shell and object of dissatisfaction of us who live there – said Dodik.

That is why, according to Dodik, it is important to have own statehood day in the Republic of Srpska, 9 January.

– It is not a harmless story, as some tend to present it to us, because it simply cannot be changed. It is something that happened, it is not something about to happen so that you can create it, but it happened – on 9 January 1992 – the Republic of Srpska was formed and today, together with Serbia, it represents two organized states of the Serbian people in this region – said Dodik.

Today, Serbia celebrates Sretenje (Candlemas) – its Statehood Day, to commemorate 15 February 1804, when the First Serbian Uprising took place under the leadership of Karađorđe, and when the Sretenje Constitution, the first modern Constitution of Serbia, was adopted in 1835.

Source: Glas Srpske-Srna

Photo: Milorad Dodik