"There'll be no war, people are smarter than their leaders"

"There'll be no war, people are smarter than their leaders"

Ivanic added that a law regulating the marking of RS Day "could have been changed even without a referendum," and that the Serb Republic will pass a law on "the solemn song 'God of Justice'," and on "the symbols of the Nemanjic (dynasty)."

"That strengthened him (Dodik) and brought him back to life, and completely deflected from the topic of bad economic conditions. If anyone should hold their head low, it's Mr. Izetbegovic. With his move he brought Dodik back, I hope temporarily. Everything started with the appellation, the way the census was conducted, the attack in Srebrenica. Dodik benefited from all these moves," said Ivanic, who is the leader of an opposition party in the Serb entity (RS).

He also noted that "one decision cannot change the constitutional order of Bosnia-Herzegovina":

"Do you think that somebody could bring down the constitutional order of Bosnia-Herzegovina with a political decision about the name of a date? Those who think they are making Bosnia-Herzegovina stronger by filing criminal complaints remind be incredibly of the period before the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Those who think they will affirm Bosnia-Herzegovina in that way can carry on with it, but they will only distance it that way... The law will be changed and January 9 (RS Day) will be a holiday, it will have a different name, doesn't matter which. And what's the problem?"

Speaking about "the RS independence referendum," Ivanic said it would not be held in 2017 or in 2018, "because political circumstances for it are not there."

Addressing the possibility of war, "as one of the main issues due to the ever-increasing threats and warning coming from all sides," Ivanic said:

"There will be no war, above all because citizens are much smarter than the leaders they elect. War does not suit citizens, while perhaps it does their leaders. No leader has ever died in a war, ordinary people have. There will be no war, there's no need for it. Bosnia-Herzegovina is a fairly arranged country and it has started making nice progress over the past year and a half. Citizens do not want war, of course there are madmen and extremes on both sides. The ban of the (RS Day) referendum has added kerosene to the fire."