Germany’s High Representative for Bosnia, Christian Schmidt, said that Bosnian Serbs are trying to secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) as the country faces its worst political crisis in over 25 years. Schmidt warned that citizens are once again talking about the possibility of conflict for the first time since a peace treaty was signed in 1995 to end the brutal three-year Bosnian War.
Schmidt, the official in charge of overseeing the 1995 Dayton peace accords, told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday that “citizens of the country and even international media have speculated about the possibility of another war.” He said that protesters have been gathering in front of his office in Sarajevo to appeal for intervention.
Remarks by High Representative Christian Schmidt to the United Nations Security Council https://t.co/MzMdCeOI31
— OHR BiH (@OHR_BiH) May 11, 2022
Schmidt said that even after two decades since the peace accords were signed, Bosnia still remains “traumatised by war.”
“The conflict in Ukraine, not so far away, is a sobering reminder that even in the 21st Century another war on European soil is not an impossibility,” he said, adding, “This is a very worrying time for Bosnia and Herzegovina [as the] possibility of heating up tensions or creating inflammatory incidents remains high.”
Schmidt opined that Bosnia Serbs are taking actions that are undermining the stability ensured by the peace accords. “The Republic of Srpska continues to embrace rhetoric and actions, including the adoption of legislation, which undermine, or can undermine the constitutional framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he noted.
Division & hatred are dangerous distractions from the issues of importance in Bosnia & Herzegovina
— UK at the UN 🇬🇧 (@UKUN_NewYork) May 11, 2022
It’s is more important than ever that #UNSC maintains support for:
➡️Dayton Agreement
➡️High Rep @OHR_BiH
➡️EUFOR
We need to promote collaborative & constructive politics in #BiH
The Dayton Accords of 1995 was a peace deal between the Serbs and Croats. The deal established the nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is composed of two parts—the Serb dominated Republic of Srpska and the Croat-Bosniak populated Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The accords also established joint central institutions to ensure that the two entities are bound together and stipulate that both sides must agree to any major decision, thereby ensuring that there is no room for any unilateral action.
However, Schmidt said that deal is now under threat, as the Serbs have sought to secede from BiH. “The leading ruling political party in the Republic of Srpska Government repeatedly advocates for peaceful dissolution of the country, and has subsequently identified the goal of their legislative undertakings as an independent Republic of Srpska within the Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he stated.
He said that the Srpska government is pursuing policies aimed at withdrawing from the Dayton Accords and if they continue, the government could “achieve a de facto secession of the entity [BiH] by opting out of the constitutional framework and assuming the competences of a State.”
In this regard, Schmidt asserted, “The entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina exist by virtue of the Constitution. They are a constitutional part of the state but they have no right to secede.”
Recently, the Republic of Srpska’s government, led by Milorad Dodik, has taken several measures aimed at undermining the stability of BiH and the Dayton Accords. In February, the Bosnian Serbs approved a draft law to install a separate judiciary for Srpska, which drew criticism from the West, particularly the United States (US), which has accused Dodik of threatening the stability and territorial integrity of BiH.
In fact, the US slapped sanctions on Dodik for using his official BiH position to accumulate personal wealth through graft, bribery, and other forms of corruption. The US has also said that Dodik is pursuing a “divisive” ethno-nationalist policy, which threatens to push BiH into greater instability.
Dodik serves as the Serb representative of BiH’s three-way presidency, which also represents the country’s two other ethnic groups, Bosniaks and Croats. Dodik has been threatening a Serb secession from BiH in recent months, putting the country into its biggest political crisis since the end of the war in the 1990s.
Dodik wants to roll back the reforms giving all the power to regional leaders, thereby jeopardising the Dayton Accords. The US-brokered peace deal came after more than three years of war that killed 100,000 and displaced two million people.