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Bosnian Serb Assembly gives green light to referendum bill

 
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik says new legislation is not aimed at breaking bonds with Bosnia and Herzegovina · Referendums will be non-binding · It is likely the first issue to be put to referendum will deal with the Dayton Agreement · The act stirs distrust in Bosnia and Herzegovina and among the international community.

The referendum bill of the Bosnia and Herzegovina's Republika Srpska has come true. After two debate sessions, members of parliament backed Milorad Dodik's proposal by 46 yes-votes, 16 no-votes and 6 abstentions. The legislative assembly of the Republika Srpska, one of the two entities into which the country is divided, has invested itself with powers to hold non-binding referendums.

It is likely that the referendum bill is used as a tool against the Dayton peace agreements by Bosnian Serb president Milorad Dodik. The Dayton Agreement put an end to the Bosnian War in 1995, established the current administrative division and designated a High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina to watch over the implementation of international agreements.

Milorad Dodik questioned the legitimacy of the European Union's international peace envoy Valentin Inzko, and threatened to hold a plebiscite to secede the Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the parliament passed the bill, the risk of a referendum causing instability in the region has increased. Muslim Bosniak MP's responded the measure by quitting the parliamentary session, as they regard the bill as unconstitutional and in violation of Dayton.

Valentin Inzko said a referendum questioning the Dayton Peace Agreement "would violate the Constitution and the peace agreement itself". U.S. embassy in Sarajevo stated that Washington "would consider any referendum that endangers stability, sovereignty or the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina as provocative". Finally, president of Croatia Stipe Mesic threatened again to use military force against Bosnian Serbs if they "were to try and secede from Bosnia-Herzegovina".

However, Milorad Dodik played down the importance of criticisms and rejected the idea that the act lays the foundation for Serbian independence or challenges the Dayton Agreement. He said it would rather "reflect the Republika Srpska's constitutional right to organize its own territory".

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