BALKANS: Ethnic Divisions Plunge Bosnia Into Chaos By Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Nov 5 (IPS) - The resignation of Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Nikola Spiric shows yet again that 12 years after the war ended, the unified state is still unable to function.
The resignation of Nikola Spiric, a Serb, Thursday last week plunged the country of an estimated four million into its worst political crisis since peace came to prevail among Bosniak Muslims, Bosnian Croats and Serbs who make up the country. The Dayton Peace agreement that ended the wars in the 1990s led to the creation of two semi-autonomous mini states in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of Srpska for Serbs, and the Muslim-Croat Federation for those two ethnic groups. Above their local bodies are the central government and central parliament, plus a three-member rotating presidency. The agreement that ended the 1992-95 war in Bosnia established a complicated structure of representation for all three ethnic groups. Consensus was needed in central government and parliament, but the international community's high representative to Bosnia Miroslav Lajcak has now introduced the principle of simple majority. Spiric's resignation came after Lajcak introduced the new measures aimed at improving efficiency in the central government and parliament as a precondition for speeding up integration with the European Union (EU). The work of both the government and the parliament has often been stalled simply due to absence of members. Spiric protested against what he saw as intrusion. "For 12 years, foreigners have run this country, and this is not good. I resign, and this is the only right decision," said Spiric. "Twelve years after Dayton, Bosnia-Herzegovina is unfortunately not a sovereign state." Bosnian Serbs were enraged by Lajcak's move fearing they would be outvoted in central institutions by Bosniaks, the local Muslims who are the majority in the country. Lajcak described Spiric's resignation as "irrational, emotional and irresponsible." Russia's position has complicated Lajcak's move. The Peace Implementation Council (PIC), the 40-nation body that oversees post-war Bosnia, backed Lajcak, but Russia abstained. Russian PIC representative Alexander Bocan Harchenko said that the body had opted to bring "further irritation and worsening" of the situation. "Lajcak's measures go against the spirit of Dayton," Harchenko said in a statement issued by the Russian embassy in Sarajevo. Harchenko is also the Russian representative in the three-member international group that negotiates the status of Kosovo, together with the German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger and U.S. envoy Frank Wisner. The resignation of Spiric cannot be solved with new elections. Under the internationally introduced constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the current government will continue, though without any practical possibility it can work. Most Bosnians seem to fear that administration in Bosnia will remain blocked now, despite Lajcak's explanation to local media that "functioning of the state is not in danger" and that "there will remain a caretaker government, which should do the job properly." "This is the worst crisis the country has seen since 1995," Belgrade analyst Jovo Bakic told IPS. "And the neighbours are not helping." He was referring to the policies in Belgrade in Serbia, which closely backs Bosnian Serbs. Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica accused Lajcak of being part of a wider conspiracy against Serbs to "bring about the unilateral independence of (southern Serbian province of) Kosovo and wipe out the Republic of Srpska." Belgrade's position led to an unusually sharp diplomatic demarche from Britain, the U.S., Germany, Italy and France. The contents were not disclosed, but a diplomat from one of these nations told IPS that "there was a sharp reminder to Belgrade that Kosovo and the Republic of Srpska cannot be treated in the same manner. "The Dayton peace agreement is an international document of substance for Bosnia, while Kosovo lives under the United Nations (UN) resolution," he said. "The two issues do not function as connected vessels." But the diplomat would neither confirm nor deny whether the warning dealt with the possibility of Serbs in Bosnia calling a referendum on independence once Kosovo proclaims independence. The status of Kosovo is being negotiated through international mediation for months now. The province has been run by the U.N. since 1999. Ethnically Albanian Kosovo leaders say they will proclaim independence in December. The U.N. administration took charge of Kosovo after 11 weeks of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) bombing of Serbia due to the repression launched by Belgrade against two million ethnic Albanians. The prominent Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje said in a comment that "the responsibility for the worsening situation lies with the political leaders who are blocking progress with their aggressive behaviour." The paper said that even religious leaders such as the head of the Islamic Community of Bosnia, Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric, are now trying to exploit the situation. During his recent visit to the United States, Ceric lobbied for abolition of the Republic of Srpska. Lajcak's office harshly reprimanded him for that demand. (END/2007) http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39919
