DODIK: UNITE SRPSKA AND SERBIA’S SCIENTIFIC POTENTIALS FOR SERBS’ BENEFIT

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 9 /SRNA/ – President Milorad Dodik has said today that the scientific resources of Republika Srpska and Serbia, including academies of sciences, need to be integrated in order to further strengthen science and knowledge and expand Serb people’s potential.

Speaking at A Bridge Built on Knowledge – Science and Knowledge in the Service of Unity and the Future of the Serb People event, held at the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska /ANURS/ in Banja Luka, Dodik called on researchers and academy members to unite under one roof in order to jointly develop their potential to the level the Serb people and science deserve.

He stressed that integrating the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska with the Serbia’s Academy of Sciences and Arts could create new opportunities and that gathering and integrating knowledge is the best path to development.

Dodik said that science should play a significant role in preserving the national identity of the Serb people, emphasizing the need to overcome divisions based on territorial and other identities.

"One day, science must declare that we are one people," Dodik stressed, adding that scientific potential should be used to ensure that positions on these issues do not remain merely individual opinions but become part of academic research.

Dodik also highlighted the need for scientists and academics to explain the significance of new technologies to the public in an accessible way, particularly artificial intelligence, its capabilities and potential dangers.

He called on researchers to take a more active role in public life and stand up for their positions, noting that the public respects scientific authorities.

Dodik emphasized that the Republika Srpska Academy of Sciences and Arts could count on the support of the Republika Srpska institutions, calling on its representatives to propose programmes that would contribute to the development of science and knowledge.

The one-day event, "A Bridge Built on Knowledge – Science and Knowledge in the Service of Unity and the Future of the Serbian People," brings together scientists from Republika Srpska, Serbia and the diaspora, with the aim of discussing opportunities for cooperation and the further development of scientific, cultural and artistic thought.