The acting director of the Republika Center for War Research, War Crimes, and Missing Persons, Viktor Nuždić, stated that the decision to proclaim Republika Srpska was the only response and shield for Serbs west of the Drina River.
- Republika Srpska was established in peace and defended in war. It has been and remains the only guarantor of the survival of Serbs on their ancestral lands – Nuždić told Srna ahead of the upcoming celebration of January 9—Republika Srpska Day.
He reminded that, on the eve of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it became clear that Serbs were facing the same scenario they experienced at the start of World War II.
- Events in Slovenia and Croatia completely shattered the myth of brotherhood and unity, highlighting the need to organize defenses to prevent a repeat of the genocide against Serbs – Nuždić emphasized.
He noted that the fuse for war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was lit by an illegal referendum and the killing of an elderly wedding guest in Baščaršija.
- This was followed by the first mass crime in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina against Serbs in Sijekovac at the end of March 1992, when members of the regular Croatian army crossed the Sava River and immediately began repeating the same patterns of behavior as their predecessors 50 years earlier – Nuždić stressed.
He recalled that the killings of Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) soldiers continued, culminating in the severing of the only connection with Serbia and the rest of the world, leaving the entire Knin and Bosnian Krajina surrounded.
Republika Srpska was established on January 9, 1992, initially under the name the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It was founded by Serb deputies in the then Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina after being outvoted on key issues regarding the survival of Yugoslavia. Meanwhile, representatives of the other two ethnic groups moved toward secession against the will of Serbs, who had the status of a constituent people.
Source: RTRS
