Call for Bosnia Serb referendum
By Neil MacDonald Published: May 30 2006 03:00 Last updated: May 30 2006 03:00

In the wake of Montenegro's vote to separate from Serbia, the prime minister of the ethnic-Serb mini-state inside neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina says his republic should also be allowed to hold a referendum for independence. Milorad Dodik said the Serb republic, which takes up almost half of Bosnia-Herzegovina's territory, should form a two-part "federal union" with the patchwork federation of Croat and Bosniak-Muslim cantons that cover the rest. This way, Bosnian Serbs could break away peacefully, just as Montenegrins have chosen to do from Serbia, he argued. But the republic Mr Dodik leads from the northern city of Banja Luka had no prior existence until ethnic-Serb soldiers and militiamen carved it out through intimidation and mass murder against the other two ethnic groups during the 1992-95 war.
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