Bosnian officials mount legal challenge to separatist Bosnian Serb laws as tensions soar

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnian officials on Thursday challenged a set of laws barring the state judiciary and police from operating in the Serb-controlled part of the country. The contentious legislation has fueled tensions in the ethnically-divided Balkan country.

The complaint filed at the country’s Constitutional Court jointly by Bosnian presidency member Denis Becirovic and two other officials argues that the laws passed a week ago by Bosnian Serb lawmakers violate Bosnia's constitution and a peace agreement that ended Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

The European Union said the laws “undermine the constitutional and legal order” of Bosnia, the functionality of its institutions and threaten fundamental freedoms of its citizens. Republika Srpska, the Serb-run part of Bosnia, must comply with Bosnia's laws and its constitution, the EU added.

“The EU urges the political leadership of the Republika Srpska entity to refrain from and to renounce provocative, divisive rhetoric and actions, including questioning the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said the statement.

The U.S. Embassy in Bosnia issued a statement saying it is deep concerned about the Bosnian Serb decree.

"The United States is resolute in advancing our interests in Bosnia and Herzegovina," the statement said. “For 30 years, our commitment to the Dayton Peace Agreement and a stable and secure Bosnia and Herzegovina has been unwavering.”

Laws represent a coup, officials say

Bosnian Serbs passed the legislation after a Bosnian court convicted Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russia president of the Serb-run entity in Bosnia called Republika Srpska. Dodik was sentenced last month in absentia to a year in prison and a six-year ban from public office for his separatist moves.

Dodik, who is not in imminent danger of arrest, said he plans to ignore the verdict, which becomes official after an appeals process.

Bosnia's officials say that the set of laws represent a coup and a major step in the disintegration of the country advocated by the Bosnian Serb separatist leader.

Bosnia consists of two entities, one dominated by Bosnia's Serbs and the other run by the Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslim, and Croats.

The Dayton peace accords that ended Bosnia's war, which killed more than 100,000 people, also envisaged that the entities are bound by joint state institutions, including the army, top judiciary and tax administration.

Bosnia's rotating three-member presidency is made up of Bosniak, Serb and Croat members while an international envoy overseeing peace has the authority to change laws and impose decisions in Bosnia.

Russian backing for Dodik

Dodik was convicted for disobeying the decisions of High Representative Christian Schmidt that sought to curb Bosnian Serb pro-independence drive. He has repeatedly called for the separation of the Serb-run half of Bosnia to join with neighboring Serbia, which prompted the former U.S. administration to impose sanctions against him and his close allies. Dodik, a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, has had Russia’s backing for his policies.

Following a meeting with Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Dodik on Thursday accused Bosniak officials in Sarajevo of seeking a conflict and wanting to abolish the Serb entity.

“We are not the ones who want war and conflict,” insisted Dodik.

Passing of the new laws has spurred fears of incidents between rival Serb and central Bosnian police forces.

The war in Bosnia erupted when the country’s Serbs rebelled against independence from the former Yugoslavia and moved to form a mini-state of their own with the aim of uniting it with Serbia.