Tensions Rise in Bosnia: A Call for Constitutional Respect

The OSCE chairperson, Elina Valtonen, has called on Bosnian leaders to adhere to the constitutional order amid the country's significant political crisis. Tensions are escalating due to Milorad Dodik's defiance of international rulings, with implications involving Russia, Serbia, the U.S., and the European Union.

In Sarajevo on Tuesday, Elina Valtonen, the chairperson of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), urged Bosnian leaders to respect the constitutional framework in the midst of a mounting political crisis.

Valtonen's visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina comes as the country navigates its most severe political turmoil since the 1990s war, during which the Serb Republic and the Bosniak-Croat Federation were established as autonomous regions. After meeting with Bosnian Foreign Minister Elvedin Konakovic, Valtonen voiced her serious concerns over the situation.

The discord intensified as Milorad Dodik, president of Bosnia's Serb Republic, resisted the rulings of an international peace envoy, which aim to safeguard the multi-ethnic state from potential conflict. This confrontation pits Dodik and his allies, including Russia and Serbia, against the U.S. and European Union, following Dodik's sentencing to a prison term related to his defiance of the envoy's instructions.

(With inputs from agencies.)