Bosnian Serbs threaten secession over Kosovo

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb lawmakers have threatened to hold a referendum on secession from Bosnia if a majority of U.N. member states and the European Union recognise Kosovo's independence.

The parliament of the Serb Republic adopted a resolution late on Thursday branding Kosovo's declaration of independence an illegal act that violated Serbia's territorial integrity.

It warned that Kosovo's recognition by major powers was setting a new international precedent.

"The People's Assembly of Republika Srpska therefore considers that it has the right to determine its stance about its state and legal status through a direct vote by a referendum," it said in the resolution.

Bosnia is made up of the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat federation, a dual-entity state created by the Dayton accords that ended the 1992-95 war among Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Muslims.

The Bosnian Serbs want to keep a high degree of autonomy and have closer links with Serbia while the Muslims and Croats want a stronger state able to lead the country towards European Union membership.

Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik told parliament there was no rush to break up the country.

"We are not adventurers and we do not plan to broach a decision about independence now," he said. "The referendum can be used only once, if we decide and when we decide it. It is no game."

The resolution also warned that unless Bosnia's state institutions confirmed the Serb Republic's autonomy, as laid out in the 1995 Dayton peace accords, the Serb Republic would reconsider its status in the country.

The resolution was adopted by a majority of the Bosnian Serb MPs. Muslim and Croat deputies did not take part in the discussion or the vote. (Reporting by Olja Stanic, writing by Daria Sito-Sucic, editing by Tim Pearce)