SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Bosnian Serbs want their own army, their leader says
Sarajevo, Sept 28 (AFP) Sep 28, 2021
Bosnian Serbs want to form their own army, their political leader has said, in a move that could further exacerbate a political crisis that erupted with the boycott of the Balkan country's main political institutions by the Serbs.

"We will withdraw consent for the (joint) army" in a vote in the Republika Srpska parliament, Milorad Dodik, who is the Serb member of Bosnia's presidency, said late Monday.

The move could be decided "in the next few days" and the army of the Republika Srpska could be set up "within a few months," he told reporters.

Bosnia's joint presidency comprises three members -- a Croat, Serb and Muslim -- and is the commander of the country's armed forces.

Since the end of 1992-1995 war, which claimed some 100,000 lives, Bosnia is made up of two semi-independent parts -- the Serb-run Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation, linked by weak central institutions, including a presidency and a joint army.

Set up in 2006 under pressure from the international community, the Bosnian army currently has around 10,000 soldiers and civilian employees.

Its creation was seen as a crucial step towards Bosnia's territorial integrity, which Dodik has frequently challenged.

However, the Croat member of the presidency, Zeljko Komsic, hit out at Dodik's proposals.

"It is a criminal act of rebellion," he told Sarajevo radio on Tuesday.

Dodik has frequently called for secession of the Republika Srpska, arguing that Bosnia was an "experiment by the international community" and an "impossible, imposed country".

Since July, Bosnian Serbs have been boycotting the country's main political institutions in protest over a ban on genocide denial imposed by the then international community's top envoy to the country, Austrian Valentin Inzko.

The current top envoy, German politician Christian Schmidt, has wide executive powers allowing him to impose laws and sack elected officials

The 1995 massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim males in Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces has been deemed genocide by international courts.

But Serb leaders usually deny that the atrocity amounted to genocide, instead calling it a "great crime".


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Trump-Musk showdown threatens US space plans
Japanese company aborts Moon mission after assumed crash-landing
Renowned Mars expert says Trump-Musk axis risks dooming mission

24/7 Energy News Coverage
'No doubt' Canadian firm will be first to extract deep sea minerals: CEO
Tabletop particle blaster: How tiny nozzles and lasers could replace giant accelerators
Set it and forget it: Autonomous structures can be programmed to jump days in advance

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Iran FM warns Europe against 'strategic mistake' at IAEA; Iran obtained 'sensitive' Israeli intel
DOD is investigating Hegseth's staffers over Houthi-strikes chats
Three dead as Ukraine hit with third-straight day of overnight attacks

24/7 News Coverage
Ailing Baltic Sea in need of urgent attention
Money, mining and marine parks: The big issues at UN ocean summit
Solar power farms would impact less than 1 percent of Arkansas' ag land



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.