The governments of Germany and France have proposed to European Union (EU) member states to redefine their policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with the aim of resolving the political crisis in that country, which includes responding more decisively to the actions of the leader of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Milorad Dodik.
This was confirmed to Hina by diplomatic sources.
The German-French non-paper, which now has the status of working material, assessed that the current crisis in BiH is the most difficult challenge to its sovereignty, unity, as well as functional and territorial integrity since the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995.
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It is alleged that the constitutional order of BiH is under attack from the RS, after Dodik was sentenced to prison in the first instance for failing to implement the decisions of the High Representative for BiH, Al Jazeera Balkans reports.
Germany and France believe that the key to resolving the current crisis in BiH is how the authorities and politicians in the country themselves will react, noting that external influence should remain "limited".
It is emphasized that the EU's goal must remain the preservation and building of a peaceful, stable, sovereign and independent functional state of BiH.
They see the goal as the repeal of unconstitutional laws in RS and the withdrawal of the draft of the new constitution for that entity, which was also encouraged by Dodik.
As stated, a permanent solution to the crisis is defined as "the full and irreversible return of RS to the constitutional order of BiH, the renewed commitment of Bosnian Serbs to the proper functioning of state institutions, and their renewed commitment to taking all relevant steps set out in the European Commission's recommendation of October 2022 for progress in the EU accession process."
In order to achieve this goal, a de facto freeze of financial support for projects in the RS, including funds from the Western Balkans Investment Framework, has been proposed.
A stricter sanctions policy has also been proposed.
They called on states, if there is no agreement on this at the Union level, to individually resort to "temporary and reversible restrictive measures" aimed at causing a change in the behavior of those responsible for the crisis, while increasing communication with the opposition and civil society in RS.
"High-level contacts with convicted or indicted RS leaders should be suspended," the non-paper states.
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