The top international official in Bosnia-Herzegovina has suspended a law seen as an attempt by Republika Srpska to transfer state property from Bosnia to the Serb entity.
On April 12, Christian Schmidt, who heads the UN Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia, declared the law passed in February in the Bosnian Serb assembly unconstitutional.
It is the first time that Schmidt has used the power of the OHR to change a law. His decision, published on the OHR website, takes effect immediately.
“Only the state of [Bosnia] can dispose of state property," Schmidt told a news conference in Sarajevo, adding that he suspended the application of the law until the Constitutional Court’s assessment.
He called on Bosnian politicians to sit down and discuss the future of state property and reach a reasonable solution.
"Everyone in this state will get their fair share, whether it's the entities or the cantons. But there must be no unilateral decisions," Schmidt said.
Those who do not respect his decisions will bear the legal consequences, he said, adding that he had used his executive powers “to lead the country forward and bring some people to their senses."
Bosnian Serb politician Milorad Dodik rejected Schmidt's decision, saying the property of Republika Srpska “remains the property of Republika Srpska.”
Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, has repeatedly called for the separation of the Serb entity from the rest of Bosnia.
"The best sons of the Republika Srpska did not die so that the unelected German Christian Schmidt would spend what they gave the most for," Dodik told the Bosnian Serb news agency Srna.
But Sefik Dzaferovic, chairman of the Bosnian presidency, said the OHR's decision was "important for preserving the peace and stability that Milorad Dodik has seriously questioned over the past six months."
Republika Srpska is threatening Bosnia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity with their “secessionist decisions,” Dzaferovic said.
The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo said Republika Srpska’s refusal to participate "in good faith" in state-level institutions and in state property negotiations left the international community no choice but to act.
"It is unfortunate that Republika Srpska entity leaders have refused to engage constructively on state property and have instead decided to take anti-Dayton, unconstitutional, unilateral action," the embassy said on Twitter.
Bosnia's government consists of two highly autonomous entities -- Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat federation -- that share some joint institutions and has a central government that ties both together in a fragile state. The structure was established by the U.S.-brokered Dayton peace accords that ended the 1992-95 ethnic war.
Under the Dayton accords, the UN High Representative has the authority to suspend laws and officials viewed as violating the peace deal.
Britain slapped Dodik and Bosnian Serb President Zeljka Cvijanovic with sanctions on April 11 for attempting to undermine the legitimacy of Bosnia-Herzegovina by pushing policies that amount to "de facto secession." Dodik was sanctioned by the United States earlier this year.
Mladen Bosic, delegate in the Bosnian parliament, told RFE/RL that the developments on the property law made it “obvious” that the United States, Britain, and Germany “have embarked on a more concrete activity in the Western Balkans” due to Russia’s influence in the area.
It is “very possible that all this has to do with what is happening in Ukraine,” Bosic said.