DODIK: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA HAS EVERY RIGHT TO MARK STATEHOOD DAY

BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 16 /SRNA/ - President of SNSD Milorad Dodik said he was very proud to attend in Belgrade the joint celebration of Serbia's Statehood Day and the Statehood Day of Republika Srpska, which he said has every right to mark this holiday.

Dodik recalled that Republika Srpska was founded on January 9, which is celebrated as Republic Day, and that on February 28, 1992, it adopted its Constitution and built its institutions. "This shows that we had state-building awareness back in the 1990s, when we embarked on the struggle for our independence, when we established Republika Srpska in 1992 and managed, above all, to preserve the motivation of the people to defend the Republic during the difficult war years and later through the peace agreement that was to a significant extent imposed on us," Dodik told reporters in Belgrade. He added that it was already clear at the time that this was a deception and that later, through various processes referred to by different names, including references to the "spirit of Dayton" and the European path, there were attempts to dismantle everything, but that these efforts were unsuccessful. "Republika Srpska remains within its territorial capacity and retains its institutional capacity, somewhat reduced, but committed to preserving its character - that is, preserving its population, its will, and its life, which are characteristics of any statehood," Dodik said. He said he was pleased to see the flag of Republika Srpska displayed alongside the flag of Serbia. Dodik emphasized that Serbia, as well as Republika Srpska, has visibly changed for the better. "We want to preserve our shared identity, our shared space, everything that connects us. We are one people," Dodik stated. He pointed out that this shared identity is a matter of history, people, cultural, spiritual, linguistic, and every other kind of community. "We live the same values, faith, and family patron saint days. We live values tied to remembrance, aimed at ensuring we do not forget any of our heroes and that we dedicate these days of Statehood Day to all of that," Dodik said. The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić presented Sretenje decorations in Belgrade today. Among more than 70 recipients was the Minister of Justice of Republika Srpska, Goran Selak, who was awarded the Sretenje Order, First Class. The same decoration was also awarded to His Eminence Bishop Irinej Bulović and Professor Emeritus Mirko Vasiljević, a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska. Sretenje is also marked as the Statehood Day of Republika Srpska, and this year's slogan is "Unity and Pride". Sretenje is observed as Statehood Day in memory of February 15, 1804, when under the leadership of Karađorđe Petrović the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottomans began, and of the same date in 1835, when the first constitution of the Principality of Serbia, known as the Sretenje Constitution, was adopted in Kragujevac.