Vucic and Dodik at First Joint Celebration of Serbian, Republika Srpska Statehood Day

BETAPHOTO/Serbian Government/Slobodan Miljević

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik said in Banjaluka in the evening on Feb. 13 that Republika Srpska was "trapped in Bosnia and Herzegovina" and "must lead a liberation process" against the state because "it will not end up well" in it.

At a ceremony in Banjaluka whereby Republika Srpska and Serbia for the first time jointly marked Sretenje (the religious holiday of Presentation of Jesus at the Temple) as Serbian Statehood Day and Republika Srpska Statehood Day, Dodik said that it was important for Serbia to remain strong, adding that "that will not be possible without (Serbian President) Aleksandar Vucic."

Vucic said that Serbia had tried to extend a hand "to those who never wanted it," that it had nothing against Bosniaks but "will not let their politicians humiliate it."

"They won't be able to hit us like a punching bag without us ever responding, rather we will know well how to preserve our dignity, our Serbian pride, our first and last name, and we will respond without fear to their every political provocation, every lie, and there are countless day in, day out," Vucic said at the ceremony in Banjaluka's Borik hall, which was attended by top Serbian and RS officials, MPs, and representatives of the two governments and diplomatic corps.

Serbia and Republika Srpska are jointly celebrating Sretenje as Statehood Day on the grounds of a declaration adopted at the All-Serb Assembly held in Belgrade on June 8, 2024. 

Sretenje, Serbian Statehood Day, is a state holiday celebrated on Feb. 15 and 16. It was established in memory of the day when the decision to launch the First Serbian Uprising was made at an assembly in Orasac in 1804. It is also celebrated as Constitution Day, commemorating the day when the first Constitution of the Principality of Serbia - known as the Sretenje Constitution - was adopted in Kragujevac in 1835.