Vucevic to attend Republika Srpska Day celebrations in Banjaluka

BELGRADE - A Serbian government delegation headed by PM Milos Vucevic will on Wednesday begin a two-day visit to Banjaluka, where it will attend Republika Srpska Day celebrations.

Vucevic and Serbian government ministers will be welcomed by Republika Srpska PM Radovan Viskovic at the Banjaluka airport, the Government of Srpska has announced in a statement.

The Serbian government delegation is due to arrive at 2 pm.

On Thursday, Vucevic and the ministers will attend a Republika Srpska Day ceremony at the Borik sports hall in Banjaluka.

The ceremony will be addressed by Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Vucevic, Republika Srpska Parliament Speaker Nenad Stevandic and Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency Chairwoman Zeljka Cvijanovic, who is the Serb representative in the tripartite body.

Vucevic and the Serbian ministers will then attend a ceremonial reception at the Administrative Centre of the Government of Republika Srpska.

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.