KOVAČEVIĆ: WORK TO ENSURE THAT EVERY SERB FROM REPUBLIKA SRPSKA HAS SERBIAN CITIZENSHIP

BELGRADE, OCTOBER 22 /SRNA/ - Serb delegate in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Radovan Kovačević said that efforts should be made to ensure that every Serb from Republika Srpska has Serbian citizenship, stressing that every resident of Republika Srpska has the right, at the very least, to express their feelings towards Serbia.

Speaking about people from Republika Srpska who hold Serbian citizenship voting in elections in Serbia, Kovačević pointed out that he did not have Serbian citizenship himself, but that some people did.

"When Vučić wins, they say, `Republika Srpska decided the election.` What are you talking about? Are you putting me in a position where I have to worry that, when I drive into Belgrade with licence plates from Republika Srpska, people will think that we have come from Srpska to decide the election?" Kovačević asked.

Kovačević noted that Croats in BiH also have their own electoral constituency for voting in elections in Croatia and that they all hold Croatian citizenship.

"We still want to believe that when we come here, to Serbia, we are visiting our brothers, just as all Serbs coming from Serbia to Trebinje, Banja Luka and other cities do," Kovačević told Euronews Serbia television.

Kovačević stressed that Serbs from BiH, as well as Serbs from Croatia, had never been an integral part of Serbia, but had died for Serbia for generations. He recalled that the insurgents who took part in the Nevesinje Uprising, known as the Nevesinje Rifle, and other uprisings in BiH fought for the area to become part of Serbia rather than remain Herzegovina or Bosnia.

He recounted an incident from the time the corridor to Serbia was being established following the deaths of 12 babies in Banja Luka, when a young wounded Serb soldier, on the verge of death, said: "Just turn me towards Serbia, and then I can die."

"And when someone tells us that we have no right to say what we think or how we feel about Serbia, we find that very difficult to accept. They - the Student List - have no problem receiving support from Zagreb, Sarajevo and Priština, from those who have always been against Serbia. But we, who love Serbia with all our hearts and souls and have always stood by it, are not entitled to say so?" Kovačević stressed.

According to him, everyone in Serbia should know that there has not been a single victory in Serbia's history in which people from the territory of what is now Republika Srpska did not play a part. He cited Jovan Dučić, Petar Kočić, Branko Ćopić, Aleksa Šantić, Meša Selimović, Ivo Andrić, Peđa Danilović and Jelena Bošković, among others.

"It has always been one united people, and that must remain so," Kovačević said, adding that relations between Serbia and Republika Srpska had always been good but were at their best under Aleksandar Vučić and Milorad Dodik.

He said he could see how Serbia was treated on the international stage and that the world took notice when Vučić asked why the rights of the Serb constituent people in BiH were being undermined. He added that pressure on Republika Srpska was now less pronounced than it had been in the past.

Kovačević said it was regrettable that students from Republika Srpska had been forced to respond to statements by certain members of the Student List in Serbia, who had called Republika Srpska and its people derogatory names and spoken of alleged genocide and "genocide perpetrators", but that, unfortunately, they had still received no response from their colleagues in Serbia.

"There is such a thing as the dignity of a people, and it is not just about making a living. Over the past ten years, a great deal has been done in Serbia to restore dignity to both Serbia and the entire Serb people. We in Srpska have no problem saying that we are grateful to Serbia," he said.

Kovačević said that Aleksandar Vučić's electoral list comprised the most competent people capable of preserving the continuity of everything that was good. He described it as the most capable list for bringing about change and correcting everything that was not good, stressing that Republika Srpska had always had Serbia's and Vučić's support and backing.

He added that Serbia's international standing had improved immeasurably and that good relations with Serbia opened significant doors around the world, both in the East and in the West.

Speaking about the SNSD’s victory in elections in Republika Srpska and BiH, Kovačević said it sent a strong message from the people of Republika Srpska, who had supported those extending a hand and calling for unity, as Vučić was doing in Serbia.

"The people in Srpska did not support those who promote divisions. I believe that the Serb people are the same in both Srpska and Serbia," said Kovačević, who is also the SNSD spokesperson.