DODIK AT THE CEREMONY ON THE OCCASION OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA DAY: “We are one people who deserve one state and we will not give up on that” (VIDEO, PHOTO)

The formal academy titled “The Hearth Shall Live,” marking January 9 – Republika Srpska Day, was held in the “Borik” sports hall.

The gathering began with the intoning of the anthems of RS and Serbia, followed by addresses from Patriarch Porfirije, Macut, Ana Trisic Babic, and Dodik.

Patriarch Porfirije: Let us have the harmony to turn toward one another

Serbian Patriarch Porfirije stated in Banja Luka that it is important for us to have understanding for one another, to be united, and to turn toward each other with words of love and forgiveness.

At the formal academy “The Hearth Shall Live,” marking January 9, Republika Srpska (RS) Day, the Patriarch said that the gathering in Banja Luka is in double joy – the birth of Jesus Christ, but also the birth of RS, which is being marked for the 34th time.

“I pray you, however, brothers and sisters, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. This is what the great Apostle Paul says, brothers and sisters, and it is a word that echoes through the centuries to us, that for us it should be a point of gathering and assembly and self-examination. For we must be capable, leaning on this message of the Apostle Paul, first to have understanding among ourselves, to have harmony, to constantly reconcile among ourselves, to turn to one another, to overcome every kind of division and dispute, to address one another with gentle words, words of brotherly love, and words of forgiveness,” the Patriarch stated.

He emphasized that each of us needs to be better and everyone needs to improve, that everyone has something to forgive everyone else, and everyone must seek forgiveness from everyone else. He reminded that tomorrow we also celebrate Saint Stephen, the victory of the cross through God’s love.

The Patriarch particularly addressed the youth and told them not to allow, and let us all together with them not allow, hatred to become our identity or bitterness to be our food.

“Let us guard the heart, for as the Apostle Paul says, ‘do not let evil overcome you, but overcome evil with good.’ And we say all this in the light of Christmas, a holiday in which God comes quietly, without violence, unobtrusively, speaking to us from within. He comes to remind us that the world is not saved by demonstrating power, but by love that does not behave unseemly and seeks not its own. And where there is true love, there is also the only choice of inalienable joy, joy that is a confirmation for every noble thought, beautiful word, and good deed,” the Patriarch said.

Trisic Babic: Dodik is the legally elected president of RS for the 2022-2026 mandate

Acting President of Republika Srpska Ana Trisic Babic stated that, if the will of the people had been respected, the legally elected President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik would have addressed those present at the formal academy on the occasion of Republic Day from this place today.

Thanks to external enemies, Trisic Babic said, Dodik was forced to withdraw illegitimately and undemocratically.

“Aware of the bad intentions toward Srpska, Dodik took a step back so that we could take great steps forward together,” said Trisic Babic.

“Republika Srpska was created on the will of the people, because it learned to defend that will peacefully and responsibly. Srpska chose neither withdrawal nor conflict; it chose the harder path, the path of common sense,” Trisic Babic said.

She added that Republika Srpska has shown on the international stage that the size of a territory does not determine the strength of a policy.

Macut: Serbia will always be with RS, it is support for the right to existence and peace

Prime Minister Djuro Macut stated at the formal academy in Banja Luka marking Republika Srpska (RS) Day that Serbia will always stand by RS and the people living there, emphasizing that this support is not directed against anyone, but is support for the right to existence and support for peace and stability.

Macut said that well-known Serbian customs dictate that on major holidays brothers and sisters gather in one house together marking solemn moments, and added that it is the same today because brothers and sisters from both sides of the Drina have gathered on the eve of Republika Srpska Day.

“We will guard tomorrow and our home forever. This is a moment in which, with the deepest bow and gratitude, we pay tribute to the fallen fighters and their families, recall their heroic past, and with responsibility toward their sacrifices, look toward the future,” Macut said.

He added that this responsibility reminds us that Republika Srpska is a reality created as a need of the Serbian people to decide their own fate, a reality defended in war and grounded in the Dayton Peace Agreement.

“A little over 30 years ago, it stopped the war and we must not allow ourselves to ever have a single victim again,” emphasized the Prime Minister of Serbia. He stated that the Dayton Agreement, besides bringing peace, set a framework in which it is only possible to build stability and trust.

“Serbia believes that respecting Dayton, in its letter and spirit, is the only way to lasting peace and security in the region. And regardless of what anyone thinks, who has what wishes and how they want to organize Bosnia and Herzegovina, the reality is that it is only possible as a state of two entities and three constitutive peoples, in which there is no outvoting and no imposition of influence from outside,” Macut emphasized.

The Prime Minister stressed that Serbia respects the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and at the same time strongly supports the constitutional rights of Republika Srpska within the framework of the Dayton Agreement.

He stated that Serbia will always be with Republika Srpska and the people living there and emphasized that this support is not directed against anyone.

“On the contrary, it is support for every citizen of Republika Srpska, regardless of whether his name is Uros, Safet, or Josip. It is support for the right to existence, the preservation of identity, and the respect of agreed international obligations. It is support for peace, stability, and dialogue,” said the Serbian Prime Minister.

Macut pointed out that Republika Srpska and Serbia are connected by history, culture, and deep human ties, but even more importantly – by a common interest to resolve problems through conversation, not conflicts.

“Peace is not weakness, but the greatest strength a people can have,” Macut pointed out and added that only through mutual respect, without imposition and pressure, can a society be built in which all nations and all citizens will have a secure future.

He pointed out that stable relations, even greater and better economic cooperation, and open channels of communication are needed.

“We need to work and build together, to make roads, railways, factories, airports. To work day and night so that every citizen of the Republic of Serbia and Republika Srpska is better off. Because it cannot be good for Serbia if it is not good for Srpska, and vice versa. It cannot be good for Novi Sad if it is not good for Doboj. Only together, through joint struggle and work, can we enable our citizens a life worthy of a human being,” Macut said.

The Prime Minister of Serbia emphasized that we owe this to those who fell for Republika Srpska, but also to the generations to come.

“Serbia will always be there with you, because we do not exist without each other. On the eve of tomorrow’s holiday, I wish us all a happy Republika Srpska Day and may it bring unity, peace, and stability,” said Djuro Macut.

Dodik: I love Republika Srpska and without it and its existence there is no future

They persuaded me that I should give a speech. I agreed because I want to say that I love Republika Srpska, and I do not see a future without it and its existence, said SNSD President Milorad Dodik at the formal academy on the occasion of Republika Srpska Day.

He said that Republika Srpska is an inevitability and that, as he said, he does not want to irritate anyone with that, although he knows it irritates those who would like Republika Srpska to disappear the most.

“They say that we have a reserve state and that we can go there, but only carry what we can on our shoes. And I say, when we leave we will take 49 percent of BiH,” said Dodik, who in his discourse on the occasion of tomorrow’s Republic Day, January 9, said that it is not accidental that Republic Day is marked on that day.

It is also Archdeacon Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, our religious holiday, and we, as he stated, have a religious holiday every day by which we celebrate our faith and guard our identity.

Dodik also said that he thought he would not speak tonight, but they persuaded him, and he agreed only because he wants to say that he loves Republika Srpska, and does not see a future without it and its existence.

Dodik devoted a good part of his address to history and the days when the formation of Republika Srpska was agreed upon, particularly highlighting that it was during a time of peace in BiH.

“Serbs paid a high price for our delusions of Yugoslavism. In Banja Luka, we formed the Army of Republika Srpska and from the first day General Ratko Mladic was at its head. Before that, we also adopted a Constitution that is still valid today. We met the conflicts unprepared and disbelieving that they could kill our wedding guest right in front of our church in Sarajevo. That ‘green berets’ could appear in Sijekovac and kill our people,” Dodik pointed out.

He reminded that 26,000 fighters gave their lives for Srpska, but also that there is a large number of those who were wounded, left disabled, and those who had to leave their hearths. And the hearth, he added, we usually notice most when we lose it.

“Many of our families were left without heirs in the past period. They invented the story of collective guilt, and then judged only us Serbs. They sidelined our leaders, you see where Milosevic, Karadzic, Plavsic, Mladic ended up… and in The Hague, we did not see Franjo Tudjman or Alija Izetbegovic,” Dodik stated.

Dodik points out that he was a witness to the time when numerous competencies were taken away from Srpska.

“Now we see how wrong that was and how much it was to the detriment of Republika Srpska. We looked forward to every meeting with Serbia, which we experience as our own country. We are one people who deserve one state and we will not give up on that,” Dodik said.

After the speeches, a reception began at the seat of the Government of Republika Srpska (RS) in Banja Luka for delegations and guests who attended the formal academy marking January 9, RS Day, and the reception is also attended by the Prime Minister of Serbia Djuro Macut.

The guests are being welcomed by the President of the National Assembly of RS Nenad Stevandic and the Prime Minister of RS Savo Minic. Previously, the formal academy titled “The Hearth Shall Live” was held in the “Borik” hall.