Vučić: For us, sanctions against RS are inappropriate, we will not apply them

Vučić: For us, sanctions against RS are inappropriate, we will not apply them

"On behalf of our entire delegation, I want to thank the leadership of the RS for the warm welcome," Vučić said.

"Serbia fully adheres to the UN Charter and does not choose whether it suits it or not. We respect the principles of international law, we respect and will respect all the measures of the Dayton Agreement. Accordingly, Serbia has respected and will respect the integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but also the two entities within BiH. Since we respect the territorial integrity of BiH, we expect that country to respect the integrity of Serbia, which was not the case when there was a vote in the Council of Europe... We have good cooperation with BiH and Republika Srpska," said Vučić.

"We talked about all the difficult topics, about the situation in which the entire region is... I explained all the hardships we face in relation to Kosovo and Metohija, all the double standards we face. Of course, we also talked about sanctions. You know, when your most powerful country imposes sanctions, first against the part of the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija, and then sanctions for the head of the BIA, in the meantime sanctions against Dodik, and then also against everyone from the leadership of the RS, of course this is difficult news for all of us," said Vučić.

"We have given all the permits for the opening of the BiH consulate in Novi Pazar, if you want we will give permission for other cities as well, there is nothing hostile to us from Sarajevo, I don't see why something coming from Belgrade would be hostile to them," said Vučić.

Vučić said that the official position of the Republic of Serbia on sanctions is that they always have negative effects and that Serbia will not apply them.

"Serbia believes that the policy of sanctions produces wrong effects. We consider the sanctions against the RS inappropriate, and accordingly, the Republic of Serbia will treat them as if they do not exist, we will not apply them," said Vučić, which was followed by applause from the crowd.

Vučić stated that it was a difficult decision.

"We in Belgrade from 1945 until last year did not have a street dedicated to the victims of Jasenovac. We had the most meaningless streets, but that shows how we were brought up, that we are ashamed of our relatives. Those times have passed. The Republic of Serbia is ready to provide some financial support municipalities in the RS but also outside Srpska. As much as we can. We are satisfied with the progress of our relations. It is important that we also talk with the people in Sarajevo," said the President of Serbia.

He also spoke about the fact that Serbia will always provide financial support to the RS. Answering questions from journalists, Vučić said that his every reaction in the region is interpreted as a threat and he tries to take it out of context. As he said, they accuse him of trying to form a "Serbian world", although he never used that phrase.

"There is a campaign of nonsense and lies. Mile opened the highway and I am happy," he said.

He added that they call him a "psychopath" because they have no argument. He said that the RS is always to blame for everything, just like Serbia in the case of Kosovo and Metohija.

Dodik: Never better relations, we don't endanger anyone

At the beginning of his address, Dodik said that the main goal is to continue what has been started and that the RS and Serbia have the best possible cooperation.

He referred to the criticism from Sarajevo, and emphasized that Serbia and the RS cooperate with the best goals without the intention of endangering a third party.

"The Republika Srpska and Serbia have the best possible cooperation that is not directed against anyone. We talked about the sanctions that have been taken. That same force is trying to violate the Dayton Agreement, to always bring the Republika Srpska to some negative side. An hour ago we were on the Petrovac road. No one was held accountable for the crime. If it weren't for Serbia, that crime would have been forgotten. On the Serbian side, there is nowhere that anyone prevents any kind of marking. The RS has its own legislative and executive power," said Dodik.

He also said that there is a challenge to mark the anniversary of "The Storm".

"On the Serbian side, there is nowhere in any place that anyone is preventing any kind of marking, it only comes from the other side," emphasized Dodik.

I want to say that the RS supports the "Open Balkans" initiative and that we want it to be done, but we see that everything that comes from Serbia is always met with a knife, said Dodik.

"We owe gratitude to the President of Serbia for mobilizing attention towards the RS, this is something we needed. Of course, money is also important, but sometimes the focus of attention in a psychological sense is far more important. Vučić succeeded in marking together important events from of our history, it's something that didn't exist before, it was kept quiet so that someone else wouldn't get hurt," said the President of the RS.