Inzko to meet US Officials to discuss Bosnia

After describing violations of Bosnia’s Dayton Peace Agreement to UN members, the top international envoy to Bosnia is set to meet US officials to gain support for further action.

Speaking before the UN Security Council on Monday, Valentin Inzko, the international High Representative for Bosnia, said that Bosnian Serb officials were violating the peace accord with a referendum plan and warned that the country is facing its worst crisis since the 1992-95 war.

These developments, he added, are the latest in “a downward trend in political stability in Bosnia for the past five years”.

Inzko warned that the authorities in Republika Srpska, one of Bosnia’s two highly autonomous entities, have taken actions that represent the most serious challenge to the 1995 Dayton peace agreement since it was signed.

The Republika Srpska National Assembly decided last month to hold a referendum in June on the validity of the state court and prosecution and the powers of the High Representative, arguing that the court has an anti-Serb bias.

“The conclusions and the decision on the referendum, which were adopted by the Republika Srpska National Assembly in April, are not only a clear breach of the peace agreement, but also put into question all laws enacted by the respective high representatives, claiming they are in violation of the peace agreement,” Inzko said, pointing out that more than seven months after the general elections in Bosnia, there is still no prospect of a new state government being formed.

Inzko warned that if the referendum takes place, he will have no choice but to repeal the conclusions and the referendum decision.

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