Vucic: Serbia does not accept and condemns decision on Dodik ruling

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said at the weekend the National Security Council had concluded that Serbia did not accept, and strongly condemned, a decision by a Bosnia and Herzegovina court to uphold a first-instance ruling against Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik.

The decisions by Bosnia and Herzegovina courts are undemocratic, anticivilisational, unlawful and contrary to the fundamental democratic principles and represent an attack on Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vucic said, presenting the Council's conclusions after the body met on Saturday.

The National Security Council believes that acts such as the upholding of the ruling against Dodik erode the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska established by the Dayton peace agreement and threaten stability, trust in institutions and the democratic character of internal political relations, Vucic said.

As a guarantor of the Dayton agreement, Serbia will continue to insist on full respect for the agreement and reject any practice of imposing decisions outside the framework of international law, the Council said.

In its actions, the Republic of Serbia will be consistently governed by the following principles: it will oppose a unitarisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, advocate preservation of the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with full respect for the powers and the territorial integrity of Republika Srpska and oppose any imposed reorganisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's internal structure, including repressive measures against democratically elected representatives, it said.

Serbia will stand with Republika Srpska, international law and justice, it also said.

"We will remain equally consistent in our advocacy of preserving stability as a necessary prerequisite for economic and overall social progress," Vucic said, adding that regional stability was a vital national interest of Serbia and that "we believe the future of the region is in cooperation."