Biggest Serb party in Bosnia threatens 2018 secession

Zeljka Cvijanovic, (2nd L), Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik (3rd L), leader of Alliance of Independent Social Democrats party (SNSD), and members of the party, Nebojsa Radmanovic (R) and Nikola Spiric (L), listen to an anthem of Republika Srpska before the congress of the party in East Sarajevo, April 25, 2015. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The largest Serb party in Bosnia said on Saturday it would push for a referendum on independence for the country's autonomous Serb Republic in 2018, setting it on a collision course with the West, unless the region is granted greater powers.

The threat represents potentially the greatest challenge to Bosnian statehood since it split from federal Yugoslavia and descended into war that killed 100,000 people from 1992 to 1995.