REPUBLIKA SRPSKA CREATED BY LEGITIMATE SERB REPRESENTATIVES PRIOR TO WAR

BIJELJINA, JANUARY 9 /SRNA/ – Legitimate Serb political representatives in BiH proclaimed Republika Srpska on this day 34 years ago, responding to the decision of Muslims and Croats to seek recognition from the European Community without Serb consent, despite the fact that Serbs were a constituent people.

Deputies of the Serb Assembly, elected in legitimate multiparty elections in 1990, proclaimed the Republic of the Serb People in BiH, which would later be named Republika Srpska. This was a response to the intention of Muslims and Croats to secede from Yugoslavia and a reaction to the constant outvoting of Serbs at all levels in BiH. The Assembly of the Serb People proclaimed the creation of today’s Republika Srpska before any interethnic conflicts and before the outbreak of the civil war in BiH. Previously, on November 9 and 10, 1991, a referendum of Serbs in BiH was held, in which an overwhelming majority decided that Serbs would remain in the joint state of Yugoslavia. Muslim and Croat political leaders in BiH ignored the fact that they were violating the then-constitutions of both Yugoslavia and the Socialist Republic of BiH and proceeded with secession, which would be confirmed in an illegal referendum at the end of February and the beginning of March 1992, without Serb participation. Republika Srpska was, before and during the war, the basic demand of the Serbs for any agreement on BiH and the cessation of hostilities. The vast majority of peace plans, except the Vance–Owen Plan, which envisaged ten cantons, included Republika Srpska. The Cutileiro Plan envisaged an independent BiH with three national cantons, the Owen–Stoltenberg Plan of 1993 spoke of three national republics, one of which was Republika Srpska, and the Dayton Agreement definitively incorporated Republika Srpska as a constituent element in the structure of the new BiH. The fact that Serbs proclaimed Republika Srpska on January 9, 1992, under its original name the Republic of the Serb People in BiH, represents a major problem for all those seeking to derogate and challenge it. That date nullifies and renders meaningless all propaganda claims that Republika Srpska was created "in war and blood" or through ethnic cleansing, as primarily claimed by political Sarajevo. That is the reason for constant attempts to declare January 9 unconstitutional by any means and under any pretext, including appeals to the Constitutional Court of BiH, where foreign and Bosniak judges dominate. History, however, cannot be changed. Republika Srpska was created by a decision of the parliament of the Serb people in BiH, which later evolved into the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. It was defended during the war, and today it is the most functional part of Dayton BiH - politically the most stable. The name Republic of the Serb People in BiH was used from January 9 until February 28, 1992, when the first Constitution was proclaimed and it was replaced by Serb Republic BiH, a name used until August 12, 1992, when the name Serb Republic was introduced. That name was replaced in September 1992 by the current one – Republika Srpska.