Republika Srpska Day

Coat of arms and flag of Republika SrpskaOn 9 January 1992, the Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina was proclaimed. On February 28 of the same year, the RSBiH Constitution was adopted. According to it, the territory of the republic was declared Serbian autonomous regions, communities and other ethnically Serbian lands in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, RSBiH was declared part of the Yugoslav federal state.

After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia on 5 April 1992, the SRBiH declared its separation from Bosnia and Herzegovina on 7 April 1992 and remained part of Yugoslavia. On August 12, 1992, the republic became known as the Republika Srpska. In 1995, it was planned to unite the RS and the Republika Srpska Krajina that existed at that time in Croatia into a single state - the West Serbian Federation or the State of Western Serbia, which did not take place due to international pressure.

Under the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, Republika Srpska retained its name, losing part of the territory controlled by Serbs at the time. To date, the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina - also the result of the Dayton agreements - is divided at 51:49 between two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. The de jure capital of the RS is Sarajevo, de facto Banja Luka.

The resolution of the Parliament of Republika Srpska, adopted on February 22, 2008, states that Bosnian Serbs can secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina if a majority of UN member states and EU states recognize Kosovo’s independence.

The date of January 9 is today a public holiday - Republic Day - in Republika Srpska.