MUNICH (AP) — The European Union’s international coverage chief mentioned Sunday that he is deeply involved about tensions in Bosnia and has appealed to leaders there to keep away from the breakup of the Balkan nation.
“The state of affairs in Bosnia is extra worrying than ever. It was by no means simple, however now the centrifugal tendencies are actually very worrying,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s excessive consultant for international coverage, mentioned at an annual safety convention in Munich.
Final month, the Biden administration introduced new sanctions in opposition to Bosnian Serb chief Milorad Dodik, who has for years been advocating that the Serb-run a part of Bosnia go away the remainder of the nation and unite with neighboring Serbia. The U.S. accused him of “corrupt actions” that threaten to destabilize the area and undermine a U.S.-brokered peace accord from greater than 25 years in the past.
“I can guarantee you that, in shut contact with the USA, I and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken have issued a really critical warning. We won’t settle for the breakup and disintegration of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Borrell mentioned.
He mentioned he had been in touch with Dodik “to ask him to recall his responsibility to take part within the frequent establishments” of the nation.
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Bosnia Serbs have been pushing for creating their very own tax assortment system, judiciary and even the armed forces which have been run centrally to this point.
“I enchantment to the duty of the political leaders of Bosnia-Herzegovina to keep away from the breakup of the nation,” Borrell mentioned.
The Dayton Peace Accord ended Bosnia’s warfare, which killed greater than 100,000 individuals and left tens of millions homeless within the worst carnage in Europe since World Conflict II. The accord established two separate governing entities in Bosnia — one run by Bosnia’s Serbs and the opposite dominated by the nation’s Bosniaks and Croats. The 2 are linked by shared, state-wide establishments, and all actions at a nationwide stage require consensus from all three ethnic teams.
Dodik says he and Bosnian Serbs are being unfairly picked on by the U.S. and wrongly accused of corruption.
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