U.S. condemns Bosnian Serb actions on constitutional court

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday condemned a vote by lawmakers in Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic to suspend rulings by Bosnia’s constitutional court, saying the move undermined the Dayton Peace Agreement.

The new law, approved on Tuesday, violates the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitution and runs counter to the Dayton Peace Agreement, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

“Defiance of the Constitutional Court threatens not just the rule of law but also the stability, security, and prosperity of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Miller said. “Combined with the anti-Dayton rhetoric by some Republika Srpska leaders, the law represents a dangerous escalation in secessionist threats.”

The 1995 Dayton peace accords ended nearly four years of war, in which about 100,000 died, by splitting Bosnia into two autonomous regions, the Serb-dominated Serb Republic and the Federation shared by Bosniaks and Croats, linked by a weak central government.

The Serb Republic’s separatist pro-Russian President Milorad Dodik, who has long criticized the court for having foreign judges on board, initiated the vote after the court last week decided to change the rules to be able to convene sessions and make decisions without Serb judges.

Experts described the vote as a “legal secession” that is set to deepen political divisions in the volatile Balkan country.

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