You're reading: Associated Press: Tensions loom in the Balkans over Bosnian Serbs’ referendum

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Bosnia's Serb mini-state is holding a referendum this weekend that has turned into a proxy political battle between the West and Russia, stoking ethnic tensions and triggering fears of new clashes more than 20 years after the end of the Balkans War.

Sunday’s vote asks residents of Republika Srpska whether to maintain a national holiday on Jan. 9, despite a ruling of Bosnia’s constitutional court that the date discriminates against non-Serbs.

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