DODIK: FLAG-BURNING INCIDENT PRODUCT OF SARAJEVO'S POLITICS OF HATRED

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 26 /SRNA/ – SNSD leader Milorad Dodik said that the hatred and intolerance toward Serbs and Republika Srpska, which he said are promoted daily by politicians from Sarajevo, have begun to manifest themselves beyond rhetoric, adding that the burning of the Republika Srpska flag is a direct product of such policies.

"Hatred always comes back like a boomerang," Dodik wrote on the social media platform X.

He stressed that the Republika Srpska flag is legal and in accordance with the Constitution, and that burning such a flag constitutes a serious criminal offense.

"I condemn this act of vandalism and call on the authorities in the Federation to identify and punish those responsible. I also call on the authorities of Republika Srpska to ban the perpetrators of this disgraceful act from entering the territory of Republika Srpska," Dodik said.

Dodik also backed an initiative by Republika Srpska Prime Minister Save Minić to permanently prohibit the display and use of the wartime flag of the so-called Army of BiH, saying it is offensive to the Serb people.

"I expect the National Assembly of Republika Srpska to adopt amendments to the Criminal Code that would classify the use of this illegitimate flag as a criminal offense," Dodik said.

A video circulating on social media appears to show a group of individuals removing the Republika Srpska flag from a flagpole and then setting it on fire while shouting "Allahu Akbar" and using profanity.

According to media reports from the Federation of BiH, the flag had been flying on a flagpole erected along the Inter-Entity Boundary Line between Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH.