SERBIA - REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PARLIAMENTARY FORUM ON SEPTEMBER 17 AND 18 IN BANJA LUKA

BELGRADE, AUGUST 27 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska National Assembly Speaker Nenad Stevandić says the autumn session of the Serbia - Republika Srpska Parliamentary Forum will be held on September 17 and 18 in Banja Luka.

"Deputies of the national assemblies of Serbia and Republika Srpska will hold a two-day session in Banja Luka and discuss the agenda we have started to harmonize," Stevandić told the press in Belgrade after a meeting with Serbia's National Assembly Speaker, Ana Brnabić. Stevandić said that he and Brnabić discussed regional stability and Serbia–Republika Srpska relations in the lead-up to several significant joint events in September, stressing that after the new Government of Republika Srpska is formed next week, a joint session of the governments of Serbia and Republika Srpska will be held in Belgrade, followed by the celebration of the Day of the Unity of Serbs, Freedom, and the National Flag on September 15. "In these difficult times, marked by attempts to provoke instability in both Serbia and Republika Srpska, we are showing that by relying on each other - on Serbia as the main pillar of the Serb people, and on Republika Srpska as a smaller pillar, we offer each other support," Stevandić added. He thanked the leadership of Serbia for its support to Republika Srpska, noting that this is especially significant now when, as he said, "conflicts, unrest, and blockades are being organized from within Serbia". "We are grateful to the leadership of Serbia - President Aleksandar Vučić, Prime Minister Đuro Macut, National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabić, and Miloš Vučević - for consistently showing not only empathy, but support, waging together with us, waging an important legal battle to preserve Republika Srpska, its institutions, constitutional status, and resources, while also being the strongest and only advocates for peace in the Balkans, thus preserving both peace and stability," Stevandić said. He concluded that a strong and stable Serbia and Republika Srpska will be better positioned to pave the path for the future and defend themselves in critical times.