The President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik has met today in East Sarajevo with the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Bosnia and Herzegovina H.E. Mr. Igor Kalabuhov, who thanked him for the invitation to attend the ceremonial reception on the occasion of the inauguration of the President.
The President Dodik pointed out that Srpska appreciated the fact that the Russian Embassy and the Russian Ambassador approached the celebration of all important events for the Republic of Srpska with special respect, and that this reflected good cooperation and relations between Srpska and Russia.
The President of the Republic of Srpska informed the Russian Ambassador that the constitution of the government was underway in the Republic of Srpska, and that all the activities that had been carried out so far would be continued in the coming period.
He pointed out that he would ask to return the competence for the electoral law to the republic level, which would enable the Republic of Srpska to conduct local elections through the Republic Electoral Commission, as well as elections for the National Assembly and the President of Srpska, and not the Central Electoral Commission, which had no right to do so either according to the Constitution and the law.
The President of Srpska pointed out that there was increasing pressure on the Republic of Srpska to introduce sanctions against Russia, as well as on the NATO integration, but that Srpska firmly stood by its positions.
He said that everyone must treat Serbia as an equal partner, respecting its constitutional position.
The President emphasized that in one part of Bosnia and Herzegovina they were trying to create a story by marking non-existent holidays that only contributed to greater divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that neither Serb nor Croat representatives recognized those dates.
During the meeting, other current topics in the Republic of Srpska, BiH and the region were discussed.