Bosnia and Herzegovina

Serb lawmakers voted on Friday (10 December) to start work on pulling their autonomous Serb Republic out of Bosnia’s armed forces, judiciary and tax system, in a non-binding motion meant to pave the way for secession from Bosnia. Serb lawmakers voted on Friday (10 December) to start work on pulling their autonomous Serb Republic out of Bosnia’s armed forces, judiciary and tax system, in a non-binding motion meant to pave the way for secession from Bosnia.

Bosnia-Herzegovina's top court has confirmed the indictment of the Balkan country's security minister, who is accused of abusing his official position over the irregular sale of weapons and military equipment a decade ago when he held the post of defense minister.

The United States, which brokered Bosnia’s 1995 peace accord, may impose sanctions against entities that try to unilaterally withdraw from state institutions or destabilize the deal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on November 16.

The chief international representative in Bosnia has warned the country may break apart if Bosnian Serbs continue moving toward secession and Bosniaks and Croats do not resolve an electoral dispute. In this Q&A, Crisis Group experts Marko Prelec and Ashish Pradhan explain the two-pronged crisis.

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik says he will move ahead with plans to withdraw the Republika Srpska, the Serbian-majority entity that makes up part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, from national institutions, brushing aside international concerns that such an agenda could spark a renewed conflict in the ethnically divided Balkan country.

The decision to renew the EU mandate was reached unanimously, despite disagreements over a report into danger of secession in Bosnia-Herzegovina. … Russia had blocked members from hearing a warning from the UN's top official in Bosnia, Christian Schmidt of Germany. .. Moscow not only objects to the report, which it said was an "extreme biased and anti-Serb document," but also the very existence of the post of an international high representative to Bosnia.

Prosecutors in Bosnia-Herzegovina have launched an investigation of Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik for "undermining the constitutional order" after he announced that the Republika Srpska leadership will soon take measures aimed at withdrawing from key institutions of the Bosnian state.

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik used his speech to a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on October 11 to challenge the international high representative who oversees civilian facets of a 25-year-old peace deal that still helps govern Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Serb member of Bosnia's presidency, Milorad Dodik, has laid out plans for a Bosnian Serb army. But the Croat member of the presidency, Zeljko Komsic, has described it as a "criminal act of rebellion."

German politician Christian Schmidt on Monday took over as the top international envoy in Bosnia despite opposition from Russia and Bosnian Serbs who consider him “illegal” and say they won’t work with him. The former German agriculture minister succeeded Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko, whose decision to end his term by imposing a ban on genocide denial in late July angered Bosnian Serb political representatives.