Lajcak says RS's secession or abolition impossible

13/10/2008

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- High Representative Miroslav Lajcak rejected suggestions Sunday (October 12th) to abolish Republika Srpska (RS) or to permit its secession from BiH. Both ideas are "impossible", he said. "Politicians from one side are saying they will abolish RS, while politicians from the other side are playing with the idea of separating from BiH. That is deeply immoral, and the international community will never allow it," he told reporters in Sarajevo. On Saturday, RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said the entity would secede from BiH if Lajcak removes him from his post.

On Friday, Croatian President Stipe Mesic said the international community should stop tolerating Dodik's threats of secession. RS is a powder keg that can blow up any moment, he warned. If the entity splits from BiH, Bosnian Croats would do the same, he told German magazine Der Spiegel. (Beta, FoNet, Makfax - 12/10/08; Spiegel, Makfax, Javno - 10/10/08)