Bosnian Serbs vote to keep ‘national holiday’ in controversial referendum

Bosnian Serbs voted overwhelmingly on 25 September 2016 to keep their national holiday in a referendum held despite ethnically divided Bosnia’s highest court ruling it illegal.

Organisers in the autonomous Serb Republic part of Bosnia said that with 71% of the votes counted, 99.8% of voters had supported the January 9 'Statehood Day”'holiday, with turnout possibly as high as 60%.

Most of the region’s Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croatians oppose the holiday. It coincides with a Serbian Orthodox Christian festival and also marks the Serb territory’s 1992 secession from Bosnia, which triggered a bloody three-year war.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Joint statement by Mogherini and Hahn following BiH Constitutional Court decision on RS day http://www.europeansources.info/record/joint-statement-by-mogherini-and-hahn-following-bih-constitutional-court-decision-on-rs-day/

BBC News, 25.09.16: Bosnian Serb referendum backs disputed 9 January holiday http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37465653

Euronews, 26.09.16: Bosnia Serbs vote to keep disputed national holiday http://www.euronews.com/2016/09/26/bosnia-serbs-vote-to-keep-disputed-national-holiday

Balkan Insight, 25.09.16: Bosnian Serbs Defy State with Referendum Landslide http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/republika-srpska-referendum-early-results-09-25-2016

Deutsche Welle, 26.09.16: Nationalist referendum wins overwhelming support from Bosnian Serbs http://dw.com/p/2QZw9

Sputnik International, 26.09.16: Bosnian Serbs Vote in Favor of Controversial Holiday http://sptnkne.ws/cqgr

Euronews, 24.09.16: Republika Srpska: a vote about more than maintaining a national day? http://www.euronews.com/2016/09/24/republika-srpska-a-vote-about-more-than-maintaining-a-national-day

Politico, 25.09.16: Bosnian Serbs challenge Dayton order in referendum http://www.politico.eu/article/bosnian-serbs-challange-dayton-order-in-referendum-milorad-dodik-the-president-of-republika-srpska/

Blog: LSE EuroppBlog, 26.09.16: Republika Srpska’s referendum: A prelude to a nationalist landslide in the Bosnian elections http://bit.ly/2dlWDiC

Wikipedia: Republika Srpska National Day referendum, 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republika_Srpska_National_Day_referendum,_2016

BBC News, 23.09.16: Bosnian Serb referendum challenges peace terms http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37453147

Euro|Topics: Debates, September 2016: Fears of new tensions in Bosnia http://www.eurotopics.net/en/166821/fears-of-new-tensions-in-bosnia

EurActiv, 30.09.16: [Opinion] The Serbian referendum in Bosnia and Herzegovina http://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/opinion/the-serbian-referendum-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina/

EurActiv, 09.01.17: Bosnian Serbs to hold divisive ‘national holiday’ http://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/bosnian-serbs-to-hold-divisive-national-holiday/

EUObserver, 10.01.17: Republika Srpska defies EU and US https://euobserver.com/foreign/136490

EurActiv, 19.01.17: US imposes sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader http://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/us-imposes-sanctions-on-bosnian-serb-leader/

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