Phil71 wrote:BANJA LUKA, Bosnia, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Serb lawmakers voted on Friday to start work on pulling their autonomous Serb Republic out of Bosnia's armed forces, judiciary and tax system, in a non-binding motion meant to pave the way for secession from Bosnia.
The three institutions represent key pillars of joint security, rule of law and the economic system in Bosnia, which was divided into two autonomous regions - the Serb Republic and the Federation dominated by Croats and Bosniaks - after its 1992-1995 war.
they amounted to a strong statement of intent from Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who has long complained about state institutions such as the judiciary and prosecutors, saying they were established based on decisions by international peace envoys and were not enshrined in the constitution.
"This is the moment of conquering the freedom for Republika Srpska," Dodik told the parliament. "Bosnia is an experiment ... I don't believe it can survive because it does not have an internal capacity to survive."
I don't fully understand the modern politics of the region, but have a fair understanding of the break up of the old Yugoslavia.
Bosnia seems like a pretty complicated affair, with the country being made up of Bosnia, Republika Srpska, and the tiny area of Brčko. The map below shows the country.
The white area is Bosnia, red is Republika Srpska (which wants independence) and the shaded area is Brčko.
The people in Republika Srpska are obviously still loyal to Serbia, and I imagine they're getting quietly encouraged by them.
I wonder what impact this would have? Could it start another civil war?
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/se ... 021-12-10/
If Republika Srpska were to try and secede, yes, it would almost certainly lead to another war.
To be completely honest, I think this is a direct response to what's been going on with Kosovo.
Specifically, Kosovo government and Albania recently signed a couple of agreements and removed border control between the two countries all while talking about about a future goal of unification, something Serbia has feared for a long time.
So this is the Serbs signaling to the west that if we're gonna play these games where borders are based on ethnic lines, Serbs also have ethnic territories we'd like to unify with.
Sadly, It's a conflict that can never be solved because, from the Serbian perspective, the simultaneous existence of BiH and Kosovo is a paradox.
Either we have multicultural countries in the Balkan, in which case, Kosovo with its Albanian majority should've remained part of Serbia, or we're creating ethnostates in which case Republika Srpska shouldn't be part of BiH.
This is also why the EU blocked Serbia and Kosovo from reaching an agreement a few years ago because it involved territorial exchange on ethnic lines. They feared this would give precedent to Republika Srpska seceding, but imo they're a bit too late and they created that precedent the day they recognized Kosovo as an independent country.