Dodik wants Serbia to give passports to Serbs abroad

Dodik wants Serbia to give passports to Serbs abroad

BELGRADE -- RS President Milorad Dodik believes it would be good to allow Serbs from abroad to be elected as deputies in the Serbian parliament in Belgrade.

Dodik, who heads the Serb Republic (RS) entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, recently received a Serbian passport, and in an interview for the Belgrade-based daily Danas noted that he asked for a permanent "liberalization" of the process of granting Serbian passport - "because Serbs in the RS want Serbian citizenship."

He expressed gratitude to Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić for making sure he became a citizen "under accelerated procedure" - but noted he though the procedure "should be even faster."

"I think every Serb should obtain Serbian citizenship, so we can show our commitment to the mother country that we consider our homeland," Dodik said, adding that he always felt bad when traveling with his Bosnian passport.

"When I go somewhere with the passport of Bosnia-Herzegovina, people always looking at me strangely. Once I went to the United States via the Netherlands where I was searched at the airport. When I told them I was traveling to a meeting at the State Department, I became even more suspicious. The flight was delayed 45 minutes," he said.

Noting that his Serbian citizenship gives him the opportunity to participate in Serbian elections, to vote and be elected, Dodik pointed out that he was "primarily a citizen of the RS" - but saw no reason why Serbia would not act like other countries, such as Croatia, that has a quota in its parliament for deputies from Croat communities living abroad.

"When there are elections in Croatia you can see billboards showing candidates in...