Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik told the press in Banja Luka the Bosnian Serb entity had no intention of taking the resolution seriously. He said it was a document which attempted to change Bosnia and Herzegovina's structure and demolish the foundations set in Dayton in 1995 on which the country lay.
Republika Srpska President Dragan Cavic said the resolution led to the destabilisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"This resolution is actually a list of wishes of some politicians, notably Bosniaks," he said, adding the document would bring into question everything that had been agreed so far regarding constitutional changes in the country.
Cavic added he could not shake the impression that some international circles in Sarajevo had a part in the adoption of the resolution.
The Serb member of the Bosnian Parliament's delegation to the CoE Parliamentary Assembly, Goran Milojevic, described the resolution as unilateral and tendentious, saying it was prepared by politicians in Sarajevo and then sent to Strasbourg.
On the other hand, the head of the Bosnian delegation to the CoE, Elmir Jahic, said the resolution was a friendly act aimed at transforming Bosnia and Herzegovina into a modern European state.
The CoE Parliamentary Assembly today called on the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to agree and adopt a new constitution by October 2010 instead of trying to improve the Dayton constitution. The resolution was adopted with 53 votes in favour and 28 against.
The parliamentarians said it was not at all realistic to maintain that Bosnia could swiftly pass from a system based on representation of ethnic groups to one based on representation of citizens.
The CoE also condemned claims by Republika Srpska authorities that Bosnian Serbs were entitled to self-determination as were the Montenegrins, who recently gained independence from a state union with Serbia. The parliamentarians said a referendum on the separation of the Bosnian Serb entity had no constitutional foundation.