As Bosnian Serbs mark controversial national day, US warns celebration amounts to ‘criminal offense’

By RADUL RADOVANOVIC
Associated Press

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The United States has warned that ongoing celebrations of a Bosnian Serb self-proclaimed national holiday violate Bosnia’s constitution and a 1995 peace agreement, and as such amount to a criminal offense. In a statement, the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo has urged Bosnia’s legal authorities to “investigate any violations of law” related to the marking of Jan. 9 as the day of the Republika Srpska entity, which is how the part of Bosnia run by ethnic Serbs is called. The holiday commemorates the date in 1992 when Bosnian Serbs declared the creation of their own state in Bosnia, igniting the country’s devastating four-year war.