2023-07-09 18:12:14
The protests of the United States have not changed anything… Two controversial laws enacted on Friday by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and accused of undermining the 1995 agreements that ended the war in the former Yugoslaviacame into force on Sunday.
The first of them de facto rejects the authority of the International High Representativel in this Bosnian Serb entity, where he has discretionary powers allowing him to cancel or impose laws and to dismiss elected officials.
Towards more tensions in this region?
The second law suspends the recognition by the Bosnian Serb entity of the judgments of the Bosnian Constitutional Court, which nevertheless apply in theory throughout this country divided in two by community fault lines.
In terms Dayton Accords Having ended the war in the former Yugoslavia (1992-1995), Bosnia was split between a Serbian entity, the Republika Srpska, and a Croat-Muslim federation.
The two texts, approved last month by the deputies of the Republika Srpska, were published on Sunday in the official journal despite recriminations from the West, worried to see tensions worsening further in this Balkan country.
On Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter that the law rejecting the authority of the High Representative “violates the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and undermines the Dayton agreements”.
The International High Representative in Bosnia impotent
German politician Christian Schmidt, who has held the post of International High Representative in Bosnia since 2021, tried to frustrate the implementation of these two texts by declaring them illegal in a decree issued last week. But President Dodik did not take this into account, he who in a recent letter assured that the High Representative “did not exist”.
Last week, Christian Schmidt also adopted a new measure allowing the federal authorities of Bosnia to prosecute politicians who refuse to comply with its decrees and the decisions of the Constitutional Court, with sentences of up to five years in prison. .
President Dodik refuses in particular to recognize the authority of Christian Schmidt since the post of High Representative formally lost the support of the UN after an intervention by Beijing and Moscow.
The leader, a close ally of the Kremlin, enjoys great influence within the Bosnian Serb entity, where he fuels intra-community tensions with secessionist threats.
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