Bosnia's Republika Srpska (RS) entity will not wage a war, Bosnian Serb Presidency Chairman said Thursday after a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, adding that the RS will not make a war move, but it will defend itself.

“There are politicians here who always side with Sarajevo whenever there’s a problem between the official Banja Luka and Sarajevo. We’ve seen that yesterday when they failed to condemn calling of an entire people genocidal,” the leader of the ruling party in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated RS entity, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), commenting on the alleged non-paper for which regional media outlets said suggests the dissolution of Bosnia and RS’ accession to Serbia.

The alleged non-paper caused a torrent of reactions mostly from Bosniak politicians and pro-Bosnian parties, and one of which was the reaction of Bakir Izetbegovic, the leader of the strongest Bosniak Party – Democratic Action Party (SDA) who said he could not say there would not be another war in the country and that he would rather die than let “those who committed genocide rule over a part of the country.”

Dodik added he was not the author of the alleged non-paper but that he was surprised that the story continued spread so much.

“We’re ready to talk but we don’t want a conflict. Not a single incident, not even an individual one,” Dodik confirmed.
Dodik noted that the Serbian delegation’s visit to the RS had never been more significant than today because “Serbia’s most important officials are all in the RS at the same time.”

“Sometimes it’s tiring. Hard. But the situation in BiH is very bad. The RS swears by the peace process. but its not getting a similar response from Sarajevo. In Sarajevo, we hear demands for the elimination of the RS. Serbia is also a problem for them. Because she is strong. Their perception is therefore tragic. They’re giving us impolite labels,” Milorad Dodik pointed out.

Vucic announced investments in both entities

“I am pleased to be here today, representatives of all branches of government are in Banja Luka today. We discussed the cooperation between Serbia and the RS and Bosnia and Herzegovina. BiH is Serbia’s third export destination as a whole and the number seven trading partner. BiH is a very important partner for us. I believe trade can be higher. I listened carefully to everything they (RS representatives) thought about the political situation in the RS and BiH. It is important for us to develop our economies so that people living in the RS and Serbia can see that they will have jobs, that their children will be able to survive in their homeland, that they will have a future… We tried to implement a project to every municipality in the RS,” Serbia’s Vucic stated.

He noted he will pay special attention to four municipalities, namely Drvar, Kozarska Dubica, Kostajnica and Nevesinje.
“We talked about the Trebinje airport project. According to our calculations, the value of that project is between €98 and €100 million,” Vucic said.

According to him, Serbia will directly invest up to €85 million, adding that he is aware the airport will generate losses for the first three years.

War is unacceptable

“War is unacceptable, war is unacceptable. Whoever counts on that, can count us out. We won’t wage any wars and wars don’t solve anything but they (pro-Bosnian politicians) obviously think peace can’t solve anything,” Dodik reiterated.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic also confirmed that war is not an option.

“Serbia wants the best partnership with Bosniaks and Croats, not just Serbs. The thought about conflicts and wars didn’t even cross our minds, and I don’t consider statements that go in that direction to be in any way responsible or insulting against other peoples,” Vucic stressed.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is leading the high delegation which includes the Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic and the Speaker of the Assembly of Serbia Ivica Dacic. Upon their arrival in Banja Luka, Vucic talked with Dodik and the RS President Zeljka Cvijanovic.

Vucic will receive the Key to the City of Banja Luka on the occasion of the Day of the City, along with a Banja Luka Honorary Citizen charter.