"Our goal is an independent Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina as defined by the Dayton Agreement," Dodik said in Banja Luka at a ceremony held to commemorate 9 January 1992, the day which the entity considers to be the day of its establishment even though it was recognised as an integral part of Bosnia and Herzegovina only by the Dayton peace agreement of 1995.

In a long speech, Dodik shifted all the blame for the war in the country to Bosniaks, claiming that they themselves were responsible for the genocide committed by the Bosnian Serb army in Srebrenica.

Commenting on the establishment of Republika Srpska, Dodik said that it was "a legitimate and democratic act", and that the entity was established in a "peaceful way", while the republics which in 1991 decided to declare independence from the Yugoslav federation did so in "an illegal way."

Dodik again levelled accusations against the international community, particularly criticising any attempt to strengthen Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state.

Serbian President Boris Tadic, who also attended the ceremony in Banja Luka, described the day when the Serb entity was established as "historic".

He said that the establishment of the entity was a "political response" of Bosnian Serbs to the decision on Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence from the former Yugoslav federation.

Tadic avoided to mention that the referendum on Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence was held only in late February, a month and a half after the establishment of the Serb entity.

Nevertheless, he stressed that the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as NATO air raids against the Bosnian Serb army, should serve as a warning that violence must be avoided and that problems should be solved peacefully and through democratic dialogue.

"Serbia will support only such solutions on which there is a consensus among all three peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Tadic said, adding that special relations between Belgrade and the Bosnian Serb entity were never directed against the interests of the other peoples in the country.

He added that the Serb entity could continue to count on Serbia's full support.

The delegation accompanying Tadic on his visit to Banja Luka included Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, and the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Irinej, who conducted a religious service.

The delegation also included film director Emir Kusturica.

The ceremony was also attended by a delegation of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH), led by party president Dragan Covic and Prime Minister-Designate Vjekoslav Bevanda.

There were no Bosniak officials at the ceremony.

The entity radio and television broadcaster aired a special programme throughout the day, glorifying events from January 1992, including the roles of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

However, the media in Sarajevo recalled that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague had so far convicted more than 70 people for the gravest war crimes committed against Bosniaks and Croats in the territory of today's Serb entity.