Political tensions grow

The top international official in Bosnia and Herzegovina has called its escalating political crisis the most serious since the 1992-95war that killed 100,000 people, warning that its potential ‘‘to become a security crisis is very real’’. The 1995 peace agreement that ended thewar created two separate entities – one called Republika Srpska, run by Serbs, and another dominated by Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslims, and Croats. They are bound together by joint central institutions, and all important decisions must be backed by both. Christian Schmidt, the high representative overseeing implementation of the peace agreement, said Republika Srpska’s government had sought to chip away at state institutions by creating parallel bodies. At the same time, representatives from Republika Srpska elected or appointed to the National Assembly and state institutions either did not participate in decision-making or blocked decisions not in the interests of Bosnian Serbs.