Bosnian Serb Leader Rejects Visit of International Peace Envoy

Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik said on Thursday that police in the Serb-dominate region of Bosnia had been order to arrest and deport international peace envoys if they enter the Serbian republic.

Bosnian Serbs say they do not recognize former German government minister Christian Schmidt as Bosnia’s international High Representative because he is not support by the UN Security Council.
The international envoy’s position was contained in the Dayton peace agreement which ended Bosnia’s devastating war in the 1990s to oversee peace in the Balkan country. The region is divide into two autonomous regions – the Republic of Serbia and the Federation which is dominated by Bosnians and Croats.

Dodik, who is president of the Republic of Serbia, has long advocated separating the Serb-dominated region from Bosnia. “Instructions have sent to the field today.” Dodik said at a press conference with Bosnian Security Minister Nenad Nesic, a Serb. Who support his initiative.
On Wednesday, when announcing the ban, Dodik said: “If he comes to a meeting in Republika Srpska (Republic of Serbia), he will be expel. Once the police found out that Schmidt was in Republika Srpska, their task was to organize a unit to expel him.”

Schmidt’s office did not immediately comment.

In July, Schmidt, who has the authority to implement laws and fire officials deemed to be obstructing peace. Revoke two laws sign by Dodik that suspended decisions made by Bosnia’s Constitutional Court and by Schmidt.

In August, Bosnian prosecutors indicted Dodik and other officials for opposing the decision of the High Representative, an offense punishable by up to five years in prison. In response, Dodik’s supporters last week organized protests across Bosnia at the administrative border between the two regions. They waved flags featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin and further escalated ethnic tensions.

The pro-Russia Dodik has been taking steps to separate the Republic of Serbia from Bosnia since 2021, but had to halt his activities because of the war in Ukraine. The European Union and Germany have stopped funding projects in the Republic of Serbia due to its policies. But Dodik said he would turn to other countries, such as China, to seek investment.

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