Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Serb entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska, celebrated its statehood day in Eastern Sarajevo on Monday despite the fact that the country’s top court banned the practice of marking the occasion.
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik organized this year’s celebration in Eastern Sarajevo, instead of the entity’s capital of Banka Luka, both because his party has lost power in the city and the Mayor now comes from an opposition party, and in part as a provocation against Muslim Bosniaks living in Sarajevo.
The Republic of Srpska traditionally celebrates 9 January as its statehood day, as it declared independence on that date in 1992, which marked the start of a war within Bosnia and Herzegovina in which more than 100,000 people were killed.
The war hit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina within former Yugoslavia, particularly hard. Once a melting pot of cultures that housed Muslims, Orthodox Serbs, and Catholic Croats, as well as a notable Jewish community, the city was devastated and saw tens of thousands of its residents flee the war.
The city came under siege by Bosnian Serb forces in April 1992, in what was to become the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare, lasting a total of 1,425 days. Some 13,952 people were killed during the siege, among them 5,434 civilians. During the siege, parts of the city would lose gas, electricity, or water supply for up to six months at a time.
Bosnia’s Constitutional Court declared the observation of the Republic of Srpska’s statehood day to be unconstitutional due to its tie-in with the Serb Orthodox Christmas, ruling the holiday discriminates against Catholic and Muslim communities.
Many Muslim organizations, including fourteen representing Muslim war veterans, have filed criminal charges against the organizers of festivities in Eastern Sarajevo, a Serb-dominated town that separated from the capital after the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords.
The parade was secured by the Republic of Srpska police, which denied permission to Muslim groups to hold a protest against the celebrations. According to Reuters, some 2,500 civilians and Serb policemen participated in the parade.
Dodik addressed the parade on Monday by saying no court could rule when Serbs would celebrate their holiday, stressing that Serbs do not wish to live in a multi-ethnic state. “We are not a threat to anyone and we are not doing this to spite anyone,” said Dodik. “We only want to say we are here and we are ready to fight for our freedom.”
Dodik’s stated goal is to split off the Republic of Srpska from Bosnia and unite with Serbia and has in the past relied on political and financial support from Moscow in his efforts. During Sunday’s celebration in Banja Luka, which preceded Monday’s parade in Eastern Sarajevo, Dodik announced he is awarding Russian President Vladimir Putin with the entity’s highest medal of honor.
