If Kosovo gets UN chair, RS will demand same for itself

If Kosovo gets UN chair, RS will demand same for itself

"The RS Assembly passed a resolution stating that in case of establishing a new international principle and practice in recognizing the right to self-determination, we will insist on establishing our state status. This document is still in force and we will not give up on that," Dodik told Belgrade newspaper Vecernje Novosti.

He added that foreigners are persistently using double standards, and warned that they cannot rule out the arguments that they use for Kosovo when it comes to BiH.

"In this respect, the solution of relations between Belgrade and Pristina on a permanent basis would have to also include solving the issue of the status of the RS," Dodik said.

Commenting on UK's decision not to include Kosovo on the agenda of the UN Security Council during its presidency in August, Dodik stressed that this did not surprise him - "because as long as it's been present in this region, since the time of the Ottoman Empire, Britain's policy has been anti-Serb."

"We must openly fight for our positions and say it openly - the British are permanently directed against us," the RS president said.

When the interviewer said that the West is sensitive to his statements and initiatives aimed at the Serb entity's independence, Dodik replied that he, too, is sensitive to the devaluation of Serb national and state rights, and the Dayton Agreement.

Asked if he thought Kosovo's partition is one of the possible solutions, Dodik pointed out that Serbia's negotiating position today is far stronger and more powerful thanks to Aleksander Vucic, and emphasized that he "believes in what the president and his team are doing."

"If we come to a position to talk about it, I am ready to gather all state and national factors among the Serbs, and here I include us from the RS too, and to put this topic is put on the agenda in a most serious way, because it seems to be the only one that could be relevant for consideration. All points of view should be made for and against, without emotions and calculations. After all, permanent borders have not even been set here," Dodik said.