Bosnia's international peace envoy and the Bosnian Serb republic are accusing each other of violating the Dayton peace accords that ended the 1992-1995 war. The International High Representative, Valentin Inzko, had extended the mandate of foreign lawyers at the Bosnian war crimes court until 2013, but the Serbs have decided to call a referendum on the issue.
Professor Dick Leurdijk, specialist at the Netherlands’ Clingendael Institute for International Relations, is not surprised. "The rules of the game are unclear."
Post-war Bosnia is made up of two highly autonomous regions, the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat federation, linked via a weak central government.
The row between Inzko and separatist Bosnian Serbs erupted on Monday night. Inzko overruled the national parliament this month by extending the mandate of foreign judges and prosecutors at the war crimes chamber, saying their presence was required by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The international staff members’ mandate expires at the end of 2009 but the Bosnian government had failed to secure local replacement for the foreign judges at the war crimes court. But Bosnian Serbs, who have accused the international judges of bias against the Serbs, said they would not accept nor implement Inzko's ruling and would question it in a referendum in the spring of next year.
Unclear rules
Inzko, who has argued that such a referendum would be legally non-binding, said the Serbian government and parliament have violated the terms of the peace agreement and several United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, however, said his region would proceed with the referendum.
The High Representative has the authority to impose laws and dismiss elected officials when seen necessary for the country's progress. But Bosnian Serbs deny his authority and have already challenged some of his decisions earlier this year.
"This is all about the relation between the jurisdiction of the international community and that of the Bosnian nation itself," says Professor Leurdijk. "The rules of the game are unclear. Valentin Inzko's authority needs to be reconsidered soon."
Sanctions
Foreign judges were brought to the Bosnian state court when it was opened in 2002 to help alleviate burden of the ICTY and handle mid- and low-ranking war crimes cases. The foreign staff are meant to guarantee the court's independence in the ethnically divided country.
"The ICTY mandate expires in 2010 or 2011," says Leurdijk. "That means the cases that haven't been tried by then will have to be tried on a national level, by the Bosnian court. A culture of immunity has to be avoided at all costs."
"The international community could exert pressure by discussing the matter in a reasonable way, by remaining on speaking terms with the Bosnian government. Imposing sanctions against politicians may fall under Zinko's jurisdiction. If so, that would certainly be a possibility."
EU candidacy
The refusal of the Bosnian government to accept an extension of the court's mandate could threaten the country’s goal of becoming a member of the EU, says Leurdijk.
"Bosnia should adopt a forthcoming attitude towards the EU, if it wishes to become part of it. But the Serbs say: we have continuously been wronged, we won't let ourselves be pushed aside."
The push for a referendum could also spark a new confrontation between the Bosnian Serb leadership and the international community as a referendum campaign would divert Serb voters' attention from economic troubles ahead of the general election in October 2010.
Leurdijk: "It could well be that the Serbs want to create a distinct profile for themselves within the current power structure. In the Balkans, you can still achieve a lot by beating the national drum."
Huge dilemmas
The Clingendael professor says the current complicated political structure in Bosnia is the result of the Dayton peace agreement that ended the 1992-1995 war.
"Does this complex political power structure still stand the test of time? And, should the international community pull out of Bosnia, despite the probability of Bosnia Herzegovina falling apart? The question how long one can keep up an international effort like this poses huge dilemmas. If the international community pulls out and Bosnia falls apart, the Bosnian Serbs will undoubtedly want to join the existing Serbia. It's an insane situation."
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If Kosovo has the right to secede why doesn't the Serb Republic have the right to secede? Seems like a simple matter of justice and fairness to me.
Kosovo's secession was illegal and unfair to the Serbian people. So the RS's would be also. There is no fairness or any sort of legalities intertwined within the secession process. Only fair elections held all across Serbia would make it legal for Kosovo to stay or secede. By the way, not many nations across the world recognize Kosovo; only the opportunists would agree to the secession.
The RS "forces" were well equipped but didn't really have the intelligence nor strategy to hold a successful campaign against the Federation. The Federation was winning the war; many Bosnian/Croat veterans disagree with the peace accord due to it halting their successful campaign in the first place. The RS should be thankful for the peace treaty, otherwise it would've been another 'operation storm' in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
One analyst recently noted that: "Republika Srpska is strong enough to fight the High Representative, but far too weak to secede from the state. Its fragile geography, cut in two by the Brcko District; the complete absence of international sponsors; its lack of armed forces and war-weary population all make a serious breakaway unthinkable. Nor is a stealthy campaign of undermining the state likely to bear fruit; if Bosnia stagnates and sinks, the Serbs' fortunes will suffer with it."
That is why our only option is strengthening Bosnian government, making it functional. Obstructions have to cease if we are to move forward.
Sinis Brcko district is created to try and stop the RS from spliting but if it comes to that it's not gonna stop the RS from spliting, and please what makes you think RS armed forces are weak, if it wasn't for dayton deal war would be going for a good few years and trust me BiH federation would be much smaller than it is today. You obviously have no idea about the arsenal of weaponry in RS plus all the weapons that stayed in RS after RSK army and its people went as refugees to serbia. I know this because 90% of RSK went thru my town. Now future of bosnia lies in the hands of EU, if they continue to pursue only serbs to Hague and we already know their stance on Kosovo then in next 2 to 4 years will be crucial as to what is going to happen to Bosnia. If they continue trying to abolish RS then yes you can expect the RS to split which can result in war again but the in that case we should finish the war where it stoped in 94' only this time croats and muslims won't be benefiting like they did in 95', thought they going to steal teritory(deal was to let RSK leave thru RS to serbia but croats and muslims used this to grab the as much as they couold, fact that they have to return it is prove of politics)
If advocates of ethnic apartheid had the capacity to destroy Bosnia by force, they would have already done so. Bosnia will survive, idea of multiculturalism can not be beaten by mere threats.
Allowing the Republika Srpska to secede and eventually join Serbia would be a blatant violation of international law preventing the acquisition of territory by war, and more importantly - by genocide. If the international community, particularly the High Representative in Bosnia, were to allow this then they too would be complicit in this unacceptable violation.
Ahmet - if that is your real name - I cannot believe that you can compare the magnitude of the crimes of the Bosniaks and those of the ultra-nationalist genocidal Serb crimes. You mention the Tuzla column in which 50 JNA soldiers were killed. The facts are that these retreating soldiers opened fire on civilians and broke the agreement they made. Also, its funny how you mention the case of 50 JNA soldiers being killed, but yet fail to mention the 8,000 men and boys slaughtered in Srebrenica by Serbs, along with the other tens of thousands of Bosnian civilians killed by indiscriminate and ruthless Serb artillery, snipers, death camps and executions.
Cvele, you make false assumptions here. Bosnia-Herzegovina and its borders have existed for centuries, as an independent country as part of other confederations. The Republika Srpska and its borders did not exist before the war in the 1990s, and its borders now are a direct result of genocide and ethnic cleansing - hardly the legal or moral grounds on which they can be justified. You cannot compare the internationally-guaranteed sovereignty of the Bosnian state with the lack of sovereignty of the RS, which is neither a state nor a viable candidate for such status. Please get your facts straight.
Ben I don't know where did you get your facts but they are all wrong. First to let Republika Srpska join Serbia wouldn't be blatant violation since international community allready did this by allowing Kosovo to split from Serbia despite being part of it for much longer that Australia exist, second in Tuzla died far more soldiers than 50 plus this were regular conscripts as you should know this was part of life in my former country second JNA soldiers didn't open fire they were fired upon from surrounding buildings, now they had a deal to leave the city but muslims wanted more than JNA to leave same whwat they did in Sarajevo and in some other cities.Plan was to get people against the JNA and to get their weapons that was in army baracks. Now you should first check your facts before you decide to post a comment plus you can find videos that will show you who opened fire first, I know this since I was watching this as it happened live on national tv... I don't know about your sources but I do now about mine...
The reason why the international community will not allow the RS to be independent is simple: Giving them their own country would result in OKing Genocide; they committed genocide on innocents in order to achieve an independent country. Giving the RS sovereignty would result in other foreign nations in Asia, Africa, and other nations around the world; who are committing genocide, as I type, to achieve their own territories in the near future. The only way to get rid of corruption and other errors in Bosnia is " compromise" towards the Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats.
Hmm based on the Kosovo, Abkazia, and South Ossetia models RS has full right to separate from Bosnia. Considering Bosnia was never an independent country the Serbs have a legal basis to secede from this dysfunctional state in which the muslim croat federation is already broke and are trying to steal RS property under Inzikos watchful eye and helpful hands. Bosnia will fall apart. The only question is when?
PS its not the Serbs that are preventing Bosnia from join EU its the High Representatives office. The only thing EU agrees on is that for as long as HR is in Bosnia there will be no EU progress. Which is acceptable for Serbs who arn't broke like ... the federation... lol. Ask the Bosnian Croats what they want?
Why why? Why did the Bosnian courts suspend the Tuzla massacre investigation where bosnian muslims killed over 100 serbian men when they wre told that they had free passage out of tuzla Why why why? International community dont play games with peoples lives. CCCC
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