Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 23 September 2016: President of the Republic of Serbia does not recognize the ruling of the Supreme Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina

President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik said that the September 25 referendum will be held on the feast of the Bosnian Serbs. It was a reaction to the judgment of the highest court in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "We will hold the referendum. It is not a secession referendum, it is not aimed against anything. It is a kind of poll to check with the people what they think about the January 9 holiday so that politicians can change the law in the parliament," said President in his statement.

The highest court in Bosnia-Herzegovina issued a judgment prohibiting National holiday in the country's Republika Srpska. January 9 is the date of Statehood Day, day Bosnian Serbs declared independence from Bosnia when it was still part of former Yugoslavia, and proclaimed the "Republic of Serbian People". The court found that it discriminates the region's Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats. The court called it "discriminatory”, because these holidays coincides with a Serbian Orthodox Christian holiday.

Judges ordered suspension of a referendum planned on 25 September in Republika Srpska, which is expecting to approve the date of holiday on January 9.

The US Embassy in Bosnia condemned the planned activities and said that the referendum would be violation of the court's ruling. The consequence of this will be the undermining of the Dayton treaty. "The Dayton Peace Agreement is an international peace treaty that cannot be challenged without consequences," said the representative of the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo.