Bosnia Plunges Deeper Into Crisis

Bosnia plunged deeper into political crisis over the weekend after Bosnian Serb leaders abandoned crucial negotiations, accused a US diplomat of conspiracy, threatened to pull out of joint institutions and even call for a referendum on independence.

This was only a part of the infuriated response of the leadership of the Serb-dominated Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska to criminal charges that were pressed last week against its Premier Milorad Dodik and several other senior Serb officials.

“Even the little faith I had in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is now lost due to this farce with the criminal charges against me,” Dodik told media on Saturday. “We have made this country pointless.”
 
The charges were reportedly submitted last week by the State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA,  to the Office of the state Public Prosecutor, referring to alleged fraud and misuse of some 70 million euros from the Republika Srpska budget through several construction and development projects.     
However, the charges were brought in an irregular fashion that made Bosnian Serbs suspect some conspiracy or foul play --  charges were reportedly pressed on Tuesday but outside of regular procedures so that top Bosnian Serb officials in both SIPA and the Prosecutor’s Office learned about the case from media on Thursday.
 
SIPA officials publicly refused to provide any details or even confirm the charges while media reports – citing unconfirmed information or anonymous sources – added to the overall confusion by providing different and even contradicting information. Even the number of people included in the charges varied in different reports between 11 and 14.
 
While SIPA opened an internal investigation into possible violations of the official protocols, Dodik and other Bosnian Serb officials claimed the case was politically motivated and aimed at weakening Republika Srpska. They claimed the case was orchestrated by Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim), Croat and international officials working in tandem against the Serbs.
 
In an interview given through video link to the Sarajevo-based Hayat television on Saturday night, Dodik said that the entire case was probably devised by the principle deputy High Representative in Bosnia, US diplomat Raffi Gregorian. In November 2008, Dodik’s government  pressed criminal charges against Gregorian and eight other Bosnian and international officials for “conspiring against Republika Srpska.”
 
Obviously enraged by the case, Dodik turned his ire on journalists from the other Bosnian entity of the Bosniak-Croat Federation. Coming out of the extraordinary government session on Friday night, he called SIPA officials “idiots” and said that his government has built the disputed government building “in spite of you (people) in the Federation.”  Addressing a Federal TV reporter, he said “I hope you get high (blood) pressure and I hope your heart fails.”
 
Still fuming, Dodik torpedoed the next round of crucial negotiations among the leaders of the three strongest national parties, which took place in Mostar on Saturday. The meeting with Bosniak Sulejman Tihic and Croat Dragan Covic ended after only an hour, after Dodik delivered an ultimatum to the two leaders that they accept several preconditions, including recognising the right of Republika Srpska to self-determination and a referendum for independence.
 
Over the past few years, Dodik has repeatedly threatened to pursue independence for Republika Srpska, but other local and international officials stressed that neither of the two entities in Bosnia has the right for self determination or separation. These statements over the past three years increased political and ethnic tensions and brought the country into its worst crisis since the end of the 1992-95 war.
 
After the other two leaders rejected the ultimatum, Dodik abandoned the meeting. All three leaders said  they agreed that the meeting could not continue in such a negative and tense atmosphere but resume in a few days time. 

Commenting on the tension, even Bosniak leader Tihic conceded that the charges against Dodik came at the “bad moment.”  Without elaborating he expressed concerns that “maybe somebody doesn’t care” for the three leaders to find a way out of the current crisis.
 
Meanwhile, Bosnian Serb officials were still contemplating their next moves. In several statements to different media over the weekend, Dodik said that some of the options included withdrawal of all Serb officials from joint institutions as well as a referendum for self-determination.
 
The Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency, Nebojsa Radmanovic, called upon all Bosnian Serb political parties, citizens and non-governmental organizations to help the government to “stop these processes.”
 
Replies came immediately over the weekend, as one Serb veterans’ association warned that Bosniaks are secretly arming themselves, and together with several other similar associations pledged to stand with the government and protect Republika Srpska by all means.
 
Even the influential Serb Orthodox Church reacted, as one of its main figures in the country, Bishop Grigorije, warned that “nobody should play around with Republika Srpska.”
 
“That would mean that they are calling us again to put up everything we have to protect our existence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is Republika Srpska,” Grigorije said.