The Financial Times reports on recent measures taken by High Representative Paddy Ashdown to penalize RS officials seen as obstructing cooperation with ICTY, and on the wave of political resignations in RS that have followed

Leaders of Bosnia-Herzeg-ovina's ethnic Serb community at the weekend set themselves on a collision course with the EU and the US over the future of the divided country.

The crisis began on Thursday when Paddy Ashdown, Bosnia's chief administrator, appointed by the US, the EU and other signatories of the 1995 Dayton Accord, sacked nine Bosnian Serb police and security officers. Lord Ashdown accused the officers of harbouring war crimes suspects, including Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague for his role in the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in July 1995.

Bosnian Serb authorities have failed to arrest a single war crimes suspect despite repeated pledges to co-operate with the international tribunal on the former Yugoslavia. ‘I have no other option but to act, as every week new evidence of obstruction comes to light,’ said Lord Ashdown. The US government, apparently acting in concert with Lord Ashdown, also imposed a visa ban on the leaders of the two Bosnian Serb political parties.

In response, Dragan Mikerevic, Bosnian Serb prime minister, quit in protest on Friday. He was followed on Saturday by Mladen Ivanic, Bosnian Serb foreign minister, and Borislav Paravac, the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency. All three officials cited Lord Ashdown's dismissals when resigning, but observers thought the dispute is more deeply rooted in the desire among Bosnian Serbs to resist the consolidation of government institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is essentially split among the three main ethnic groups of the country.

Olli Rehn, European Union enlargement commissioner, was scheduled to arrive in Sarajevo yesterday. He was expected to engage in talks aimed at defusing the crisis. EU officials showed no sign of backing down. Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief, yesterday gave his support to Lord Ashdown. ‘Our position is to be calm and let things develop,’ said a spokeswoman for

Mr Solana. ‘When Lord Ashdown agreed this package of decisions, he did so on behalf of the European Union.’ The EU also tacitly supports the US visa ban.

The stability of Bosnia is a top priority for the EU, which took control of peacekeeping operations from Nato this month in its biggest military deployment. Few fear a return to violence, but the confrontation could mean that after nearly a decade of peace in Bosnia, the blueprint laid down by the Dayton Accord may have little life left. Many Bosnian Serbs worry that the international community seeks ultimately to dissolve Republika Srpska, the ethnic Serb half of Bosnia.

This report appeared in The Financial Times, 20 December 2004

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