[Serbian]

Official: Bosnian Serbs oppose NATO membership

Associated Press
2009-09-28 08:57 PM

A senior official says polls show most Bosnian Serbs oppose joining NATO.
Nebojsa Radmanovic, the Bosnian Serb member of the country's three-member presidency, left open the possibility Monday of holding a referendum on the issue in the Republika Srpska, as the Serb-run half of Bosnia is called, saying more discussion is needed.

Bosnia was riven from 1992-1995 by an ethnic war. Since then, in a complex peace agreement, it has been divided into the Serb Republic and a Bosniak-Croat Federation, linked by common institutions.

Officials in the Serb Republic generally seek more autonomy and oppose closer integration of institutions. Bosnian Serbs often feel solidarity with Serbia. In 1999, NATO bombed Serbia to induce it to end its crackdown in Kosovo.