The war in Ukraine has forced Bosnian Serb nationalists to delay plans to pull their region out of Bosnia-Herzegovina's national institutions, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik said.
Dodik spoke on June 6 during a session of the Bosnian Serb entity's parliament that he called to rally support against Bosnia imposing sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The session discussed "information on the international political and security situation and the place and role of Republika Srpska."
Dodik sparked Bosnia's worst political crisis since the end of its 1990s war and triggered sanctions against him from London and Washington after saying late last year that Republika Srpska would pull out of the Western Balkan state's joint military, top judiciary body, and tax administration.
The Republika Srpska parliament in December voted to start work on a nonbinding motion meant to pave the way for secession. Dodik had said it would be implemented by a deadline that expires this week.
The plan was not scrapped, just postponed for six months to avoid "further complicating Republika Srpska's geopolitical position in complex geopolitical circumstances," said one of the conclusions adopted by the parliament.
"That is why we halted the realization of our conclusions relating to the withdrawal [of Bosnian Serbs from]...state authorities," Dodik said.
Dodik said the Bosnian Serb entity wanted to "maintain neutrality" when it came to Russia and Ukraine and was against sanctions against Russia.
Republika Srpska representatives in Bosnian institutions should vote against the imposition of sanctions against Russia, according to another of the parliament's conclusions at the June 6 session.
Dodik, the Serbian member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, has repeatedly called for the secession of the Bosnian Serb entity from the rest of Bosnia, which he labeled an "experiment by the international community" and an "impossible, imposed country."
Western government have said the separation of the Serbian entity's military, police, and tax administration from the central Bosnian government would contravene the 1995 Dayton accords that ended the Bosnian wars.