"Temporary"

EU mission sends more soldiers to Bosnia

EUFOR soldiers (symbolic image)

(Bild: APA/AFP)

In view of the recent tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EU mission EUFOR has announced a "temporary reinforcement" of its forces on the ground. This is a "proactive measure aimed at supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina in the interest of all its citizens", the mission explained on Friday evening.

EUFOR did not initially provide any information on the number of additional forces. NATO also announced that Secretary General Mark Rutte would visit the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on Monday.

On Friday, the Bosnian Constitutional Court suspended a law signed by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, which rejects the authority of the Bosnian national police and judiciary within the Republika Srpska, which is predominantly inhabited by Bosnian Serbs. The decision by the Republika Srpska parliament was a reaction to a court ruling against Dodik, who had been sentenced to one year in prison for contempt of the UN High Representative.

Austria also involved in peacekeeping forces
The EU-led stabilization mission EUFOR ALTHEA currently has around 1,500 soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Austrian Armed Forces are also involved in the EUFOR ALTHEA mission, which is intended to ensure peace since the end of the Bosnian war, with up to 700 regular members. In addition, the Austrian Armed Forces have 200 operational reserve troops on standby in the event of a situation such as the one that has now occurred. The Bosnian-Muslim representative of the three-person Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović, called on EUFOR to deploy its soldiers "at strategic points" in the country.

Milorad Dodik

(Bild: AFP/STRINGER)

Since the 1995 Dayton Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been divided into the Republika Srpska, which is predominantly inhabited by Bosnian Serbs, and the Croat-Muslim Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The two semi-autonomous parts of the country are linked by a weak central government. Almost a third of Bosnia's 3.5 million inhabitants live in the Republika Srpska, whose territory makes up almost half of the Balkan state. The influential office of a UN High Representative as guardian of the peace treaty is also enshrined in the treaty.

Situation has been tense since the end of the war 30 years ago
The suspended law had further aggravated an already tense situation. The Srebrenica memorial in Republika Srpska announced that it had closed its doors "until further notice". Its management justified this with the uncertainty caused by the ongoing political crisis.

Serbian units murdered around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in the summer of 1995. The massacre is considered one of the worst war crimes in Europe since the Second World War and was classified as genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest UN court.

USA warns
Following Dodik's call on Bosnian Serbs to leave the Bosnian police and judiciary, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also warned against destabilizing the region. Dodik's actions against the central state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina threaten the "security and stability" of the country, Rubio explained on Friday (local time) on the online service X. "We call on our partners in the region to join us in taking action against this dangerous and destabilizing behavior," Rubio added.

Rubio's posting on X:

Dodik had called on Bosnian Serbs on Friday to leave their posts in the police and judiciary and instead join the institutions of Republika Srpska. They had been promised a job while retaining their rank, position and salary, Dodik said. He later emphasized that there were no plans for a violent escalation, but that the part of the country led by him "has the ability to defend itself, and we will do so".

Dodik had previously signed the law, which was later provisionally repealed by the Constitutional Court, banning the police and judiciary of the central state of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Republika Srpska. With his signature on Wednesday, Dodik put regulations into force according to which Bosnian Serbs face up to five years in prison if they continue to work for the police or judiciary of the central state.

The law, which had previously been passed by parliament, is intended to limit the influence of the central government of the Balkan state in the region. Parliament's move was a reaction to a court ruling against Dodik, who had been sentenced to one year in prison for defying the influential UN High Representative in Bosnia.