In Banja Luka, almost nothing reminds of the referendum, many don't even know what is being decided

In Banja Luka, almost nothing reminds of the referendum on celebrating January 9th, which the authorities of this BiH entity announced for Sunday, reports Patria's reporter.

Many Banja Luka residents, Serbs, don't even fully understand what the referendum is deciding. Some of them even think it is a referendum on the secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosniaks in Banja Luka are also confused. Only yesterday did they receive instructions from the Vice-President of Republika Srpska, Ramiz Salkić, to ignore the referendum.

On Krajina Square, there are only political party stands. Seven days after the referendum, local elections are being held in BiH. There is little talk about the referendum on the Square as well. The impression is that the authorities are actually advertising the referendum more through the media than discussing it among citizens.

The story about the referendum has heated up the atmosphere in BiH in recent days. There were even threats of using weapons. Cooler heads in BiH are calling for de-escalation of tensions. Analysts warn that some government media might be most to blame, causing inter-ethnic tensions to escalate again in the country, even though BiH emerged from war only 20 years ago.

The Constitutional Court of BiH declared the celebration of January 9th as the Day of Republika Srpska unconstitutional. The authorities from Banja Luka do not want to accept the Court's decision, which is why the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, initiated a referendum on this issue. 

Another decision of the Constitutional Court was the prohibition of the announced referendum, but the politicians leading the BiH entity of Republika Srpska do not wish to comply with that either. 

The international community believes that by not respecting the decisions of the Constitutional Court, the authorities from Republika Srpska are leading the citizens of this BiH entity into isolation, writes Patria.