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A girl carries the Serbian flag: since July the Bosnian Serbs have been boycotting the work of the central institutions of the Balkan state
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ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP
The situation in the Balkans is tense.
Now, amid political tension, the Bosnian Serbs have announced plans to form their own army.
The Serbs would withdraw their consent to a joint Bosnian army by voting in the parliament of the semi-autonomous Serbian republic Republika Srpska, announced the Serbian member of the Bosnian triple presidency, Milorad Dodik.
At the same time, the formation of an independent army is proposed "within a few months".
This should be voted on in the coming days.
The Croatian presidency member Željko Komšić spoke of a “criminal act of rebellion”.
Since the end of the Bosnian War (1992 to 1995), Bosnia has been divided into two semi-autonomous republics, one Serbian and one Croatian-Bosnian.
Each part has its own government and parliament.
At the same time there is a joint Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian central government.
In 2006, a joint army was formed that includes 10,000 soldiers and civilian members.
The international community regards these as important for the territorial integrity of Bosnia.
The situation has been tense for months
The Bosnian Serbs have been boycotting the work of the central institutions of the Balkan state since July.
They are protesting against a ban on the denial of genocide in the country, which the then UN envoy for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko, had imposed shortly before the end of his mandate.
The ban was apparently aimed at Serbian handling of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
The Serbian representatives in Bosnia and politicians in Serbia usually deny that the massacre was genocide.
Because of his far-reaching powers, the High Representative of the international community has an important role to play in implementing reforms and overcoming political differences in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The German Christian Schmidt took over this position in August.
asc / AFP