Bosnian state prosecutors on Wednesday ordered the arrest of Russian-backed Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and his aides for ignoring a court summons, raising the stakes in a standoff that threatens the Balkan country's stability.
The state prosecutor’s office is investigating Dodik, the separatist president of Bosnia's autonomous Republika Srpska, for what it calls an attack on constitutional order after he initiated the adoption of laws barring state judiciary and police from the region.
The bans came after Dodik was sentenced to a year in jail for defying the rulings of an international peace envoy. He has two weeks to appeal that sentence.
It was unclear whether the plan was to detain Dodik or to accompany him to answer the summons..
Republika Srpska television, citing the regional government, reported that the state prosecution service has also ordered the arrest of Republika Srpska Prime Minister Radovan Višković and regional parliament president Nenad Stevandić for ignoring summons in the case of the attack on constitutional order.
On Wednesday, the Serb region's parliament convened in a bid to adopt the Serb Republic's new constitution, which would annul all reforms agreed upon in the decades following the signing of the Dayton peace agreement that ended the Bosnian 1992-95 war.
Miloš Vučević, the prime minister of neighboring Serbia, was on Wednesday cited by the Sarajevo Times news outlet as warning that attempts to arrest Republika Srpska leaders including Dodik “would be the path to civil war”.
Tensions in Bosnia have seen the West pitted against Russia, which, along with Serbia and Hungary, has supported Dodik.
Dodik dismissed his arrest warrant as politically motivated and said he would ask Russia to veto an extension of a European Union force mandate in Bosnia at the United Nations Security Council.
Meanwhile, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported that the separatist leader planned to hold a high-level meeting with Russian officials in the coming days.
The European Union peacekeeping force, EUFOR, said on Tuesday that it had begun deploying reserve forces in Bosnia to maintain stability and security.
The Sarajevo Times reported last week that the EUFOR contingent would be boosted by 400 soldiers.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Dodik's actions were undermining Bosnia's institutions and threatening its security and stability, calling on American partners in the region “to join us in pushing back against this dangerous and destabilizing behavior.”
His statement was a blow to Dodik, who hopes that President Donald Trump's administration will favor the Serb separatist agenda.
International peace envoy Christian Schmidt warned that changing the constitution was a violation of a peace deal and represents “a serious danger.” He called on MPs to reject “this attack on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the multi-ethnic character of Republika Srpska.”
Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation are two regions created after a war in which 100,000 died. They are linked by a weak central government in a state supervised by an international authority to stop it from slipping back into conflict.
The bans came after Dodik was sentenced to a year in jail for defying the rulings of an international peace envoy. He has two weeks to appeal that sentence.
It was unclear whether the plan was to detain Dodik or to accompany him to answer the summons..
Republika Srpska television, citing the regional government, reported that the state prosecution service has also ordered the arrest of Republika Srpska Prime Minister Radovan Višković and regional parliament president Nenad Stevandić for ignoring summons in the case of the attack on constitutional order.
On Wednesday, the Serb region's parliament convened in a bid to adopt the Serb Republic's new constitution, which would annul all reforms agreed upon in the decades following the signing of the Dayton peace agreement that ended the Bosnian 1992-95 war.
Warning of ‘path to civil war’
Miloš Vučević, the prime minister of neighboring Serbia, was on Wednesday cited by the Sarajevo Times news outlet as warning that attempts to arrest Republika Srpska leaders including Dodik “would be the path to civil war”.
Tensions in Bosnia have seen the West pitted against Russia, which, along with Serbia and Hungary, has supported Dodik.
Dodik dismissed his arrest warrant as politically motivated and said he would ask Russia to veto an extension of a European Union force mandate in Bosnia at the United Nations Security Council.
Meanwhile, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported that the separatist leader planned to hold a high-level meeting with Russian officials in the coming days.
The European Union peacekeeping force, EUFOR, said on Tuesday that it had begun deploying reserve forces in Bosnia to maintain stability and security.
The Sarajevo Times reported last week that the EUFOR contingent would be boosted by 400 soldiers.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Dodik's actions were undermining Bosnia's institutions and threatening its security and stability, calling on American partners in the region “to join us in pushing back against this dangerous and destabilizing behavior.”
Blow to Dodik
His statement was a blow to Dodik, who hopes that President Donald Trump's administration will favor the Serb separatist agenda.
International peace envoy Christian Schmidt warned that changing the constitution was a violation of a peace deal and represents “a serious danger.” He called on MPs to reject “this attack on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the multi-ethnic character of Republika Srpska.”
Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation are two regions created after a war in which 100,000 died. They are linked by a weak central government in a state supervised by an international authority to stop it from slipping back into conflict.
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