Bosnian Serb leader against ratification of 1999 border agreement

MOSTAR, Sept 20 (Hina) - Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik said on Thursday that Bosnian Serb lawmakers in the Bosnian state parliament would block the ratification of the Bosnia-Croatia border agreement, which was signed by the late Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in 1999, stressing that he was displeased with border demarcation along the River Una.

"Alija Izetbegovic did not represent BH in that area, nor did he take into account our interests. That's why an issue that is quite important today was ignored then, and that is the border along the River Una and in some other areas," Dodik said in an interview with Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA.

The agreement was never ratified by the Bosnian parliament. Its ratification requires the support of a majority of lawmakers from both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina -- the Bosnian Serb entity called Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat entity known as the Federation, which is now unlikely given that the majority of Bosnian Serb MPs come from Dodik's party.

Croatia's Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic repeated on Thursday that he would continue to push for the ratification of the agreement.