Serb separatists push for own border police in Bosnian region

18/3/2025 6:21

Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik announced a law on Monday to establish a border police force for his Serb-dominated region, after a top Bosnian court sought his detention for defying orders of an international peace envoy.



Dodik, president of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic, has already initiated a set of laws derogating state authorities and violating the constitution, creating the biggest constitutional crisis in the Balkan country since the end of its 1990s war.



Dodik said on social media that the region's top leadership agreed on Monday to form its border police in line with the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the 1992-1995 war, part of his bid to roll back all post-war reforms aimed to strengthen the fragile country.



Under the U.S.-sponsored peace deal, Bosnia was split into two autonomous regions, the Serb Republic and the Bosniak-Croat Federation, linked by a weak central government and supervised by an international envoy whose role is to prevent the multi-ethnic Balkan state from slipping back into conflict.