Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said, after an emergency session of the country's National Security Council, that Serbia does not accept the decision of a court in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which sentenced the President of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik to a year in prison and a six-year ban on holding political office, for disrespecting the decisions of the High Representative.
Vučić pointed out that this is the most difficult situation for Serbia since 2008, "the question is where and how will all this end."
"This decision is anything but democratic, against general legal principles, directed against the RS and the Serbian people as a whole," Vučić said, as reported by N1.
When asked whether Dodik would be arrested if a warrant was issued and he was in Serbia, he stressed that he would not.
"All competent state bodies are obliged to respect the decision of the National Security Council. Milorad Dodik is welcome on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. He is the President of Republika Srpska, legitimately and legally elected. And the fact that some are now making a hero of him makes me a little jealous of Milorad, to be honest," Vučić said.
He read the conclusions from the session, which strongly condemned the second-instance decision of the court in BiH, as undemocratic, anti-civilizational and immoral.
He assessed that this was a serious attack on Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He also believes that the security and political situation in the region has been seriously disrupted, "with a tendency to further deteriorate and provoke interethnic conflicts directly directed against the Serbian people," calling on all actors to remain calm.
He stressed that Serbia will continue to insist on respecting the Dayton Agreement and preserving the RS according to Dayton.
He will use all diplomatic, legal and political means to provide support to the RS, as well as oppose the unitarization of BiH, and will advocate for the preservation of the territorial integrity of BiH, as well as the territorial integrity of the RS, he added.
"The stability of the region is a vital interest of Serbia," he said.
He also said that he spoke with two world leaders who warned him about Serbia's behavior after the Dodik verdict.
"I told them that I understood well what they were thinking, but Serbia is a sovereign state and makes decisions accordingly," he said.
DON'T MISS IT
Bonus video:
