Bosnia peace envoy declares Serb parliament’s orders illegal

SARAJEVO (Reuters) : Bosnia’s international peace envoy on Thursday sought to keep the country’s European Union integration on track by rejecting the Serb Republic parliament’s orders last week that would have blocked progress.

The lawmakers in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated regional parliament last week ordered Serb delegates in the central government to block legal reforms needed for Bosnia’s integration into the EU.
High Representative Christian Schmidt, whose authority Serbs do not recognize, on Thursday prohibited “any attempt to implement the dangerous elements” of those orders.

The Dayton Accords that ended 3-1/2 years of ethnic war in the Balkan country in 1995 gave the high representative final authority over whether such decisions are allowed under the peace deal.

The peace accords split Bosnia into two autonomous regions, the Orthodox Serb-dominated Serb Republic and a federation dominated by Catholic Croats and Muslim Bosniaks, linked in a weak central government. That secured peace but left Bosnia dysfunctional as a state.

Schmidt’s move on Thursday was part of his efforts to stop Bosnia from sliding into a new political crisis and keep EU integration advancing.

Serb Republic President Milorad Dodik has tried for years to withdraw the region from Bosnia and has sought to stop state institutions from functioning. He is on trial in a Bosnian court on charges of defying Schmidt’s decisions.