GUSKOVA: FUTURE OF SERBS IN BALKANS DEPENDS ON REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 14 /SRNA/ – The future of the Serb people in the Balkans greatly depends on Republika Srpska, which is why it is crucial for Srpska to stand firm, said Russian academic and historian Yelena Guskova.

She stated that Republika Srpska has endured the most difficult days in its history. "The West had planned for Republika Srpska to fall within a year and for there to be a unified BiH without Serbs," Guskova said, adding that the Serb factor has historically been of great importance. She emphasized that Serbs in this region are solid and serious. “You have built a state that holds all of BiH together,” Guskova empasized. Republika Srpska, Guskova claims, preserves Serb culture, science, education, and tradition. "It has preserved the national tradition that we still can see even after 30 years. It gives all Serbs in the Balkans the possibility to live together in peace. It seems to me that Russia also has a certain role in this," Guskova told reporters in Istočno Sarajevo, where she is attending the international scientific conference "30 Years of the Dayton Peace Agreement: Lessons of the Past and Challenges of the Present". She said that Russia will, after the end of the war in Ukraine, reshape European politics. "The EU will not exist, and our Slavic peoples will strive to live as well as possible in this region, together with Russia," Guskova said. She noted that Republika Srpska stands firm since 1992, as the University of Istočno Sarajevo had already been founded at that time. "That is an incredible thing. As the war waged on, the University functioned with several faculties," Guskova said.