BRUSSELS, March 10. /TASS/. NATO will not allow the emergence of a "security vacuum" in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Secretary General Mark Rutte said at a press conference in Sarajevo.
"This is not 1992. We will not allow a security vacuum to emerge," he said.
Rutte called on the country's political leaders to resolve the situation surrounding the Bosnia and Herzegovina Court ruling against Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik. "It will be up to political leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina to take responsibility here," he said.
The secretary general also said NATO fully supports Bosnia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. "We will not allow the hard-won peace to be jeopardized," he added.
Court ruling
On February 26, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced the Republika Srpska president to a year in prison and a six-year ban on political activity for ignoring the decisions of High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt. This is a verdict of the first instance court, which can be appealed. The final decision will be made by the second instance court by the end of this year. Dodik warned of his readiness to declare the entity's independence in case of further attempts by Schmidt to lobby for laws that violate the rights of Bosnian Serbs. In response to the ruling, Republika Srpska passed a package of laws banning the operations of Bosnia and Herzegovina's federal security agencies on its territory.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is essentially governed through a high representative (a post created by the 1995 Dayton Agreement), who is appointed by the steering committee of the Peace Implementation Council after approval by the UN Security Council. However, in May 2021, the ambassadors of the steering committee countries decided to appoint Christian Schmidt as the new high representative without the UN Security Council approval procedure. The Republika Srpska leadership does not recognize Schmidt's legitimacy.