Dodik in Srebrenica today, Municipality and Mayor Duraković not informed of visit

President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik is visiting Srebrenica today, and will address citizens at the Culture Center.

Dodik's visit to Srebrenica is proceeding without cooperation with local authorities, writes Patria. Specifically, Dodik did not inform the municipal mayor Ćamil Duraković about his visit to Srebrenica. Mayor Duraković confirmed this.

Srebrenica has once again come into focus a few days ago, after Bosniak representatives announced that they would call a referendum on Srebrenica's exit from RS, because the authorities of this BiH entity do not respect their rights. The referendum on Srebrenica would also be a response to the referendum in RS announced by Dodik for September 25, and the referendum question will concern whether citizens in RS want January 9 to be celebrated as the Day of RS. The Constitutional Court of BiH previously made a decision according to which January 9 cannot be celebrated as the Day of RS, but the entity authorities should determine another date, but the authorities from Banja Luka do not want to implement the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH.

21 years ago, the army and police of Republika Srpska, aided by units from Serbia, committed genocide against more than 8,000 Bosniaks from Srebrenica and surrounding areas. The genocide has been assessed by several international bodies as one of the greatest on European soil since World War II. However, the authorities in RS and Serbia still do not want to acknowledge the genocide, after which Bosniak representatives began considering a referendum as an option for this municipality to exit RS, writes Patria.