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Republika Srpska awaits Lavrov’s visit

The Bosnian Serb leader dubbed Russia as "a stabilizing factor in the region," underscoring that Moscow supports the Dayton Agreement

BELGRADE, October 16. /TASS/. Republika Srpska (an entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina) expects Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to come on a visit in the near future, Milorad Dodik, Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said on Friday.

"I am very delighted at Sergey Lavrov’s coming visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The leadership of Republika Srpska will be meeting with him. We will have an opportunity to receive him in Istocno (East) Sarajevo and that is very important. His visit to Istocno Sarajevo is more important to me than to Sarajevo."

The Bosnian Serb leader dubbed Russia as "a stabilizing factor in the region," underscoring that Moscow supports the Dayton Agreement. He also recalled that Republika Srpska was not considering joining NATO. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to NATO is impossible without consent from all its entities.

Dodik said earlier in an interview with TASS that Republika Srpska was under enormous pressure in regard to its membership in NATO. According to him, the West would like to have all countries as NATO members, but Republika Srpska had no intention of altering its strategic determination - its military neutrality. The politician believes that joining NATO after the 1999 devastating bombings would justify the North Atlantic Alliance’s illegal aggression against former Yugoslavia.

Under the constitution, drafted at the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Agreement) and signed in Paris on December 14, 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina is made up of two primary entities: the Muslim-Croatian Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (51% of the territory) and Republika Srpska (49% of the territory), as well as the Brcko District. The state structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most complicated in the world. Three main nations are represented in the government proportionally: the Bosniaks (Slavs converted to Islam), the Serbs (Orthodox Christians) and the Croatians (Catholics).

After Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lavrov is scheduled to visit Serbia. Earlier, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he was expecting the Russian top diplomat’s visit in the near future.

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