Sarajevo (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Union announced that it would increase its peacekeeping presence in Bosnia following the country’s highest court’s suspension of separatist legislation passed by Bosnian Serb authorities.
The European Union Force (EUFOR) said it will “temporarily” increase the number of troops in its peacekeeping force in the country.
“This is a proactive step designed to help Bosnia and Herzegovina in the interest of all citizens,”
EUFOR said.
It highlighted EUFOR’s
“continued support to security and stability”
in the country without determining the number of extra “reserve forces” that would be stationed.
The EUFOR decision comes after Bosnia’s Constitutional Court blocked a raft of laws proposed by Serb leader Milorad Dodik. The legislation disregarded the authority of the federal police and judiciary within the Serb-controlled part of the country, the Republika Srpska (RS).
What separatist laws did the Bosnian Serb authorities pass?
Bosnian presidency member Denis Becirovic and another government official lodged a complaint against the set of laws passed by Bosnian Serb lawmakers. It claimed that they breach Bosnia’s constitution and a peace accord that ended Bosnia’s 1992-95 war. The European Union also said the regulations “undermine the constitutional and legal order” of Bosnia.
In response to the court’s temporary ruling, Dodik stated he didn’t recognise Bosnia’s judiciary. Dodik made the laws through the RS parliament last week after he was convicted to a year in prison and barred from politics for six years. Earlier this week, Dodik stated that he would not follow a court summons on charges of trying to overthrow the constitution.
As reported, the controversial legislation has fueled strains in the ethnically divided Balkan country. Bosnia’s Constitutional Court stated it had to act quickly because the newly assumed laws
“could harm the constitutional order of Bosnia-Herzegovina.”
It is expected to proclaim the laws nullified after thorough deliberation.
