Scottish referendum raises Serbs' independence hopes

Bosnian Serbs are closely watching Scotland's independence referendum, hoping if Scots vote to break away from Britain it would set a precedent that could boost their own chances of proclaiming a separate state.

After Crimea split from Ukraine and joined Russia following a disputed referendum in March, and with Scotland eyeing independence in Thursday's referendum, the president of Bosnia's Serb-run entity Republika Srpska has not hesitated to evoke the spectre of separation.

"We are following what is going on in Italy (South Tyrol), in Scotland and even in Catalonia. These are crucial experiences for the RS," Milorad Dodik said recently.

In multi-ethnic Bosnia, however, with the bloody legacy of its 1992-1995 war during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, observers say talk of independence also raises the danger of a new armed conflict.

The Dayton peace accord that ended Bosnia's inter-ethnic war created two almost equal and highly autonomous entities, Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation, linked by a loose central government in charge of foreign matters, finance and defence.

The Serbs had boycotted Bosnia's 1991 referendum to break away from Yugoslavia which was successful thanks to the votes of Muslims and Croats.

But Bosnia's proclamation of independence in 1992 came at the price of a brutal war pitting Serbs against Muslims and Croats that claimed more than 100,000 lives.

To this day many Serbs have never really accepted the new post-war Bosnian state, despite the level of autonomy they have in Republika Srpska.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday was to plead with Scots to vote against independence in a referendum as Scotland enters the most decisive week in its modern history.

Cameron was expected in Aberdeen -- the hub of Britain's North Sea offshore oil and gas industry, almost all of which would come under Scottish control in the event of a "Yes" vote.

With polls showing an extremely tight vote on Thursday, English football icon David Beckham lent his support to the "Better Together" camp and pro-unity campaigners were planning a rally in Trafalgar Square in London later yesterday.