Republic of Srpska President, Serb Member of BiH Presidency and Republic of Srpska Prime Minister Meet with Foreign Affairs Minister of Russian Federation

The President of the Republic of Srpska, Željka Cvijanović, the Serb member of the Presidency of BiH, Milorad Dodik, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska, Radovan Višković, met this evening in Belgrade with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov.

The Republic of Srpska President stated after the meeting that she expects the economic co-operation between Srpska and the Russian Federation will grow.

“It is extremely important for the Republic of Srpska to have a strong interlocutor such as the Russian Federation. We want to have more investments, to be better connected in terms of communication,” said President Cvijanović.

The President of the Republic noted that many projects are in progress in the fields of culture and education, that many joint programmes are in place, and emphasised that she is especially proud of the construction of the Serbian-Russian Orthodox Centre in Banja Luka, which was also discussed at the meeting.

“Minister Lavrov informed us that representatives of Russian businesses, but also institutions are taking part in the project, and they are giving their contribution to the construction of the centre, which will also be a spiritual connection between our two peoples,” President Cvijanović stressed.

The President of the Republic of Srpska added that tonight’s meeting was a good opportunity to express our gratitude to the representatives of the Russian Federation who consistently defend the positions of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

The President of Srpska also expressed her gratitude to Russia for their positions in the UN Security Council, and underlined that Russia’s blocking of the resolution on the Srebrenica genocide in the UN Security Council was historically important for the entire Serb people.

“It is especially important for the Republic of Srpska to have an interlocutor who is a world-class diplomat, who does not require much explaining because he knows the situation very well, and on whom, in the end, we can rely on and rely on Russia to prevent a new historical mistake that could be detrimental for the Republic of Srpska and the Serb people,” the President of the Republic concluded.