THE STRUGGLE FOR REPUBLIKA SRPSKA CONTINUES THROUGH ITS ISRAELI FRIENDS

JERUSALEM, JANUARY 28 /SRNA/ – The struggle for Republika Srpska and its international positioning is continuing through Israeli friends, Acting President of Republika Srpska Ana Trišić-Babić said.

"We are intensifying contacts and cooperation with the U.S. administration and the White House, and I believe that our citizens will have excellent news in the coming month about what we can deliver and what we have achieved in January," Trišić-Babić said, who is staying in Israel as part of the Republika Srpska delegation. She emphasized that for everyone involved in politics and diplomacy, it is a great privilege to be in Israel these days, a country through which the world is rapidly changing. She said the situation there is quite similar to that in the region, particularly in BiH. Commenting on the meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trišić-Babić said it was outstanding. "I can testify that for the past 15 years Republika Srpska has been building friendships with peoples and states on a daily basis. And now we are all witnesses that we have reached the culmination of our hard work, that Republika Srpska has been recognized on the map, and everyone now knows where Republika Srpska is," Trišić-Babić told reporters in Jerusalem. She stressed that Republika Srpska is recognized internationally, that it has sincere friends who are beginning cooperation with it, and that agreements have been reached to sign memorandums on specific forms of cooperation between Republika Srpska and Israel. She also emphasized that Israel will examine the possibility of opening an office in Banja Luka, while activities of the Republika Srpska Representative Office in Jerusalem are also being intensified. "I am truly surprised that Prime Minister Netanyahu, despite everything that is happening here, found the time to meet with us. It was a genuine bilateral meeting, with a deep understanding of the situation in Republika Srpska, BiH and the region, and of the issues to which we had answers," Trišić-Babić said. Trišić-Babić and SNSD leader Milorad Dodik also met today in Israel with Knesset member Ze’ev Elkin of the New Hope party. The Republika Srpska delegation is scheduled to meet with Minister for Diaspora Affairs and the Fight against Antisemitism Amichai Chikli and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Eli Cohen. The Republika Srpska delegation also includes Serb delegate to the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Radovan Kovačević.