The celebrations for the Day of Republika Srpska (RS) started Sunday in Banja Luka with laying of wreaths at the Monument to Fallen Soldiers.

Republika Srpska is free and will continue to exist, as this was the vow of the soldiers who laid their lives for it, said RS President Milorad Dodik after laying wreaths at the monument to fallen RS soldiers at the Saint Pantaleon cemetery in Banja Luka.

The central celebrations of the 20th anniversary of RS will take place Monday.

Numerous guests are expected from the country and abroad, RS state television reported.

Serbian President Boris Tadic and Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic will be among the guests.

Serbian Patriarch Irinej will serve the holy liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

The assembly of the Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina passed a declaration establishing Republika Srpska twenty years ago this Monday. The assembly itself had been set up one year earlier.

Since 1988, the administrative, political and business center of RS has been in Banja Luka.

RS, a parliamentary republic, got 49 percent of the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina under the 1995 Dayton Agreement - just under 25,000 square kilometers.