Lajcak: No referendum in RS

Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak stated today that the announced referendum in Republika Srpska is unacceptable for legal and moral reasons and added that it will certainly not happen, reports the Patria News Agency.

- Legally, it is not possible for entities to decide on state-level institutions, Lajcak told reporters before the EU Council of Ministers session in Brussels.

He added that the referendum, in which RS citizens are to vote on the jurisdiction of state judiciary of BiH on the territory of the entity, is also morally questionable.

Lajcak said that former EU High Representative Catherine Ashton told the President of RS, Milorad Dodik, that a referendum is not the way and offered a structural dialogue on judicial reform in BiH.

- That dialogue is functioning, we are adhering to our obligations, but Mr. Dodik has abandoned his obligations, said the Slovak diplomat.

Lajcak stated that he personally asked Mogherini to put the referendum issue on the agenda of today's session.

Responding to a journalist's request to comment on the recent attack on Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić during the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, Lajcak strongly condemned the act.

- Genocide happened, but hatred will not help the country move forward, he said, reports Tanjug.