Republika Srpska Day Celebrated, Vucic Sends Missive

Milorad Dodik and Aleksandar Vucic (BetaPhoto/Milos Miskov)

This year’s Republika Srpska Day is being marked by a series of events that included a parade in Banjaluka and simultaneous fireworks in Srpska cities and Serbia’s capital, despite rulings by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina labeling the holiday’s January 9 date unconstitutional.

The celebrations began in Banjaluka in the evening of Jan. 8, with a gathering attended by several public figures from Serbia. Those in attendance heard a letter from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and were addressed in person by Serbia’s Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlic and Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Aside from Srpska’s highest officials and the Serb representatives in joint Bosnian-Herzegovinian institutions, the opening celebration also included several high-profile guests from Serbia – namely Defense Minister Milos Vucevic, Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy Minister Nikola Selakovic, Health Minister Danica Grujicic and Movement of Socialist leader Aleksandar Vulin – as well as Russian Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Igor Kalabukhov. Also in attendance was Darko Mladic, the son of Republika Srpska wartime Supreme Commander Ratko Mladic, sentenced by the ICTY to life imprisonment.

During the gathering, U.S. military planes repeatedly flew over Banjaluka. According to a previously issued statement by the U.S. Embassy to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the action symbolized the U.S.’s dedication to Bosnia’s territorial integrity amidst the anti-Dayton and secessionist activities by Republika Srpska’s government.

So far, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has made three separate rulings labeling celebrations of Jan. 9 as Republika Srpska Day unconstitutional. Amendments to Bosnia’s Criminal Code from July 2023 made it a crime for any official or person of authority to participate in organizing the celebration of said holiday, deeming such actions a criminal violation of the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which carries a prison sentence of six months to five years along with disqualification from public office.