AP: Tensions Rise in Bosnia and Herzegovina

AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS

The American news agency AP writes that Bosniak officials have today disputed a set of laws from the Republic of Srpska, one of the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which prohibit the state judiciary and police from operating "in the part of the country under Serbian control," and that these "controversial laws have fueled tensions in this ethnically divided Balkan country."

AP writes that "Bosnian Serbs adopted the controversial laws after a Bosnian court sentenced Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russian president of the Bosnian entity known as Republika Srpska, which is governed by Serbs," and he was convicted "for his separatist actions."

"Dodik, who is not in immediate danger of arrest, stated that he plans to ignore the ruling, which becomes final after the appeal process," AP writes.

Officials in Bosnia say that this set of laws from RS "represents a coup and a major step towards the disintegration of the country, which is advocated by the separatist leader of the Bosnian Serbs," the text states.

AP writes that "Dodik has repeatedly called for the half of Bosnia led by Serbs to unite with neighboring Serbia, which led the former U.S. administration to impose sanctions on him and his close allies," and that "Dodik has had the support of Russia for his policies."

"The passing of new laws has raised fears of incidents between rival Serbian and central Bosnian police forces," AP writes, adding that "the war in Bosnia broke out when Serbs in the country rebelled against independence from the former Yugoslavia and began forming their own mini-state with the goal of uniting it with Serbia."

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