The rally was organised by the Committee for the Protection of the Constitutional Position of Republika Srpska in protest at ongoing negotiations by parliamentary parties on police reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which aim to annul the boundaries between the country's two entities, dissolve entity ministries of the interior and transfer their powers to the state level.
"Republika Srpska is a better organised part of Bosnia-Herzegovina and is not an obstacle to Euro-Atlantic integration processes," the head of the Alliance of Former Camp Prisoners of Republika Srpska, Slavko Jovicic, told the gathering.
Jovicic said that Republika Srpska wanted to join the European Union, but made it clear that "Republika Srpska does not need Europe if its aim is the disappearance of Republika Srpska."
The Committee gathers 11 non-governmental organisations, including associations of war veterans, disabled persons, families of war dead, former camp prisoners, refugees and pensioners.
Protesters waved Serbian flags and banners saying "Serbia, Help Us!" and "Let's Separate Republika Srpska from Bosnia-Herzegovina!"
Among the protesters were also individuals sporting Chetnik insignia, and a group of teenage boys shouted abusive slogans such as "Turks Out", alluding to Bosnian Muslims.