Ahmetović: Ambassador Ivancov's support for the referendum is concerning, it is support for Karadžić's legacy

State representative and member of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the BiH Parliament Sadik Ahmetović reacted to the official statement from the cabinet of RS President Milorad Dodik regarding today's visit of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to BiH, Petr Ivantsov, writes the news agency Patria.

- The announced referendum on the Day of RS was the main topic of today's meeting between the President of Republika Srpska and the Russian ambassador. Dodik reiterated to the Russian ambassador that the RS will not back down and that the referendum on the Day of RS will be held on September 25. Ambassador Ivantsov stated during the meeting that the Russian Federation agrees that the people of RS have the right to express their stance through a referendum, reads the statement from Dodik's cabinet.

Ahmetović, in a statement for the news agency Patria, considers Russia's support for the unconstitutional and anti-Dayton referendum to be concerning.

- This is a referendum that is contrary to the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH and directly violates the Dayton Peace Agreement. Such a stance by an ambassador hosted by the state of BiH is, to say the least, inappropriate and naturally creates concern among all of us when an ambassador of a country, who is obliged to respect its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its institutions, gives support to an unconstitutional move.

I remind Ambassador Ivantsov that the state of BiH is a state of constituent peoples - Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats, and Others, and that he is obliged to respect and equally consider the views of all peoples and its citizens.

I remind him that Bosniaks do not agree that January 9 should be the Day of RS and that this is about the legacy of Radovan Karadžić. This date was a decision of only one people.

If you do not want ambassadors, you do not have to be our friend, but you must respect the state and its Constitution in which you are an ambassador. That is your obligation, and do not contribute to the destabilization of BiH because you have no mandate for that as an ambassador, Ahmetović concludes.