Synchronised fireworks announced in Serbia, Republika Srpska for January 9

Presidents of Serbia and Bosnia’s Republika Srpska entity, Aleksandar Vucic and Milorad Dodik, agreed to perform synchronized fireworks in the capital city of Serbia and across the Serb-majority entity on Tuesday, January 9, when Republika Srpska authorities are marking a holiday, whose timing was declared unconstitutional.

Dodik’s office said that the fireworks have been arranged for 8 p.m. to mark the end of “so far the most spectacular celebration of the Republika Srpska birthday,” which is held under the slogan ‘The Symbol of Freedom’.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared marking of the Day of Republika Srpska on January 9 as unconstitutional, because it breaches the constitutions of both BiH and Republika Srpska.

The court ruled that the holiday was discriminatory against non-Serbs in Republika Srpska because January 9 is also a Serbian Orthodox religious holiday – the day of St Stephen, the patron saint of the entity.