Vucic says he asked Dodik to "reconsider referendum"

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says he has asked RS Presidnt Milorad Dodik to "once again consider the decision to hold a referendum."
Source: Tanjug Friday, July 17, 2015 | 13:36

(Tanjug)

Vucic also stated that he "pointed out to the wider context of this problem."
"Although I have not openly raised this issue, it is about a sovereign decision of the RS. I asked, on behalf of Serbia, that they once again consider that decision. I am grateful that this point of view of Serbia is respected - which I think is at this moment comprehensive, all-encompassing, and serious," Vucic told a joint news conference with Dodik on Friday in Belgrade.

Vucic added that he was prepared to, if Dodik asks, "help in presenting additional arguments that could contribute to easier consider the overall situation."

"I am ready to do that if need be also in front of the RS deputies," he said.

"Serbia has never and in no way interfered in the internal affairs of Bosnia-Herzegovina, nor in the internal affairs of the RS. But today I am grateful to Dodik for accepting, on my initiative, to have this kind of conversation," he said, noting that "Serbia would find it difficult to exist without the RS, while the RS would find it no less difficult without Serbia."

The final decision, Vucic repeated, was up to the RS.

He and Dodik today discussed "the event in Srebrenica," and agreed that what happened there was "an attempt to destabilize the region," but also that it was "necessary to establish and maintain peace as well as achieve full stabilization in the region and in Bosnia-Herzegovina."

Vucic and Dodik also discussed the start of works on the Bratunac-Ljubovija bridge, trade loans, and models of infrastructural connections.