Lawmakers in the autonomous Serb region of Bosnia by a slim majority backed the proposal of Republika Srpska's President Milorad Dodik to hold a referendum on whether national courts should have authority over Serbs.
"Russia is paying closer attention to the legality [of holding the referendum] and to fundamental international law than the countries that are criticizing the referendum. Russia is on the side of international law in this case," Nikola Tanasic, assistant editor for New Serbian Political Thought magazine, told Sputnik.
Earlier this month, the Russian Foreign Ministry's deputy head of the Information and Press Department, Alexander Bikantov, said the Republika Srpska had decided to use "available democratic instruments to ensure the implementation of its legitimate interests" in light of the existing bias against Bosnian Serbs and inefficiency of the justice system in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Tanasic said Russia had been "a very committed supporter of the forces in the Balkans that have been pushing for democracy rather than of the oligarchical, technocratic concept of Europe, where nobody consults the people about anything."
According to Tanasic, although Russia still has not expressed its official support of the referendum, Bikantov's comments were perceived by Serbian officials and wider society "as an act of support."
"Russia is the bastion and defender of international law, in contrast to the West. Western policy is mainly based on the destruction of all other civilizations. The Russian position on the referendum is absolutely correct, Russia must defend Orthodox countries that are under pressure from the West," Kuljanin told Sputnik.
The vote on whether to hold the referendum came a day after top diplomats in Bosnia, representing the European Union and the United States, warned Serb leaders that the proposed referendum would be "a direct threat to sovereignty and security" and would not be tolerated.
