More fuel has been added to the Bosnian fire. The leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina's three main Muslim Bosniak, Serb and Croat parties agreed last Monday to divide the country into four territorial and administrative units as opposed to the 2 current political entities. Soon after, though, top officials contradicted each other on the new administrative units, particularly whether new internal borders will respect ethnic lines drawn in the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995.

The agreement was signed by Sulejman Tihic, leader of the Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Milorad Dodik (Serbian Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD) and the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Dragan Covic. According to Balkan Insight, the agreement establishes that Bosnia and Herzegovina will be split into four regions, namely Sarajevo and another 3 administrative units. Each of them will have its own executive, legislative and judicial powers, so there is every indication that the State will adopt the form of a federation. Coincidently, three peoples constitute the Bosnian State, and precisely here lies the confusion about what was exactly agreed upon, if they ever agreed on anything at all.

Milorad Dodik, right after the summit, declared that the Republic of Srpska in Bosnia (the Serb unit occupying 49% of the whole territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina) will not undergo any changes. Sulejman Tihic, however, has assured that regions will respect geographical, historical and economic principles rather than ethnic lines, thus contradicting Dodik.

If the Serb Bosnian president is right, it means that the 3 units will be created out of the other current federated state, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a unit made up of Muslim Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats. According to B92, the leader of the second-largest Bosniak political formation, Haris Silajdzic (Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, SBIH), is afraid that Tihic may have agreed on the split of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in three entities: a Muslim, a Croat and a multiethnic one (Sarajevo).

In search of a more efficient administration
Talks held among political leaders must be considered in the context of the reform process of Bosnia and Herzegovina's institutions, which the three leaders initiated last November. In theory, modifications are aimed at adapting State structures to EU requirements, since Bosnia and Herzegovina expects to join it within the next decade.

Right before Christmas, the three politicians said they would endorse a constitutional reform. They have now reported that they need further talks, which will be held in Mostar on February 23.

Further information:

• Le Courrier des Balkans: Bosnie-Herzégovine : réorganisation territoriale ou nouvel éclatement du pays ?
• Southeast European Times: BiH main parties announce new decentralisation agreement
• Javno: Bosnia's Main Parties Back Decentralisation Plan