STEVANDIĆ TO FIELDS: SRPSKA INTERESTED IN COOPERATION WITH U.S.

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 31 /SRNA/ - Speaker of the Republika Srpska National Assembly Nenad Stevandić said at a meeting with Spencer Fields, Director of the US Embassy Office in Banja Luka, that Srpska is interested in cooperation with the United States and that better communication and mutual understanding are important for the development of economic activity.

Stevandić explained that Republika Srpska is interested in cooperation with the United States on an equal footing, as well as in cooperation with both the East and the West, and that it wants development without impediments, whether from within BiH or from outside, the National Assembly said in a press release. "I am pleased that the new US administration understands Republika Srpska’s position," Stevandić said. At a meeting in Banja Luka, he and Fields discussed the current political situation in Republika Srpska and BiH. Stevandić also pointed to the unfair and unequal treatment of political parties in Republika Srpska by the Office of the High Representative /OHR/, referring to the decision to suspend budget funding for the SNSD and United Srpska. He assessed that these are not fair electoral conditions, but rather possible electoral engineering which, he said, was designed by Christian Schmidt, undermining the integrity of the elections by discriminating exclusively against two parties. Stevandić said that preserving stability and promoting economic development are the best safeguards of peace and that equality of the peoples and entities established by the Dayton Peace Agreement is the foundation for development and progress. He welcomed Fields to Banja Luka and wished him success in his work.