NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in Sarajevo today that the alliance fully supports the territorial integrity of Bosnia and called on political leaders to calm tensions fueled by the verdict against Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
“We will not allow the hard-won peace to be jeopardized“, Rutte told reporters after a meeting with the country's tripartite presidency.
On February 26, the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik was sentenced by a Bosnian court to one year in prison and a six-year ban on political activity for failing to comply with the decisions of the international community's high representative, Christian Schmidt. The following day, the parliament of the autonomous federal entity passed laws banning the operation of the Bosnian court, prosecutor's office, the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (VJPC) on the territory of Republika Srpska. On Friday, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a temporary measure and suspended the implementation of the laws, which it said violated the Bosnian constitution and the Dayton Peace Agreement.
Under the terms of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the fighting in Bosnia (1992-1995), the country is divided into two semi-autonomous parts - Republika Srpska, populated mainly by Bosnian Serbs, and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (a Muslim-Croat federation), where Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Bosnian Croats live. Each part has its own government, parliament, and police force, but the two are linked by common state-level institutions, including a judiciary, army, security services, and tax administration. The Dayton Agreement gives the High Representative of the international community broad powers, including the power to enforce laws, appoint and dismiss civil servants, and more.