Gouillon: For 33 years, Republika Srpska has been bastion of Serbdom

BANJALUKA - For 33 years, Republika Srpska has been a bastion of Serbdom, and Serbia will always be representing the positions and interests of Serbs in Srpska and its constitutional powers under the Dayton Agreement, Director of the Serbian government Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy Arnaud Gouillon said on Tuesday.

Congratulating Republika Srpska on its anniversary, celebrated this year under the slogan of Born For Eternity, Gouillon noted that Srpska had been created in response to Bosniak and Croat separatist aspirations, representing, for decades, a bright symbol of the Serbs' heroism and fight for freedom.

"Today, erosion of the Dayton Agreement by unitarist aspirations in Sarajevo is jeopardising the order established and confirmed by international law," Gouillon said in a statement.

He said constant attacks on Republika Srpska and its President Milorad Dodik were underway as part of overall pressure on the Serbs and the Republika Srpska leadership, and noted that Serbia advocated absolute respect of the Dayton Agreement, respect of the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the integrity of Republika Srpska as one of its entities.

"In keeping with the adopted Declaration on safeguarding the national and political rights and on the common future of the Serbs, Serbia will always be representing the positions and interests of Serbs in Republika Srpska and its constitutional powers under the Dayton Agreement," added Gouillon, who will be attending Republika Srpska Day celebrations in Banjaluka on Thursday.

Initially named Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska was established on January 9, 1992, by Serb members of the then Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who had been outvoted by Bosniaks and Croats on key issues regarding a survival of the former Yugoslavia.

The Bosniak-Croat secession that followed was against the will of Serbs in the former Yugoslav republic, who had the status of a constitutive nation.