UK embassy to Bosnia and Herzegovina condemned the decision of authorities in Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity to award Russian President Vladimir Putin with the Order of the Republika Srpska, calling it a "provocation."

The Serb-dominated sub-national entity in Bosnia, Republika Srpska, covers half of the country’s territory. Every year it celebrates 9 January, a holiday commemorating the decision on that date in 1992 when the Serb statelet declared independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The holiday itself is controversial and has been declared unconstitutional by the country’s courts.

As part of the celebrations, the entity’s officials usually award the Order of the Republika Srpska, the entity’s highest decoration, to politicial leaders and officials seen as supportive of the entity.

The UK’s stance on the marking of 9 January as the Day of Republika Srpska is “clear and consistent,” the embassy said on Monday, referring to the celebration of the unconstitutional holiday.

“Officials of Republika Srpska need to act in line with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2015 and 2019, because anything else would be unwise and would be seen as a provocation. There is a number of unsolved issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina that demand a constructive engagement of all political leaders,” the embassy told N1 Bosnia, urging authorities in the country to “approach these matters seriously.”

The embassy also called on the politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina to build “an environment of mutual trust” and to “refrain from the rhetoric and activities that lead to divisions and escalation.”

“We condemn the decision of Republika Srpska to give the Order of Republika Spska to Vladimir Putin. Putin premeditated the unprovoked and barbaric invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign democratic country. Rewarding such personality cannot be justified, and carries the risk of further isolation of Republika Srpska politicians who took part in this,” N1 cited the embassy as saying, without attributing the statement to any particular diplomat.

The decision to decorate Putin was previously condemned by the US embassy and the EU.