NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has vowed the military alliance’s “unwavering” support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s federal government following a series of separatist actions by Bosnian Serb leaders. Rutte made the remarks in Sarajevo on Monday after meeting with the three members of Bosnia’s multiethnic presidency. This visit came shortly after Bosnian Serb lawmakers passed legislation barring federal judicial authorities and police from operating in the autonomous territory of Republika Srpska.
Rutte described any actions undermining the Dayton Agreement, which ended Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war, as “unacceptable.” He warned that “inflammatory rhetoric and actions” pose a direct threat to Bosnia’s stability and security. Since the end of the Bosnian War, the country has been divided into two autonomous regions—Republika Srpska and a Bosniak-Croat federation—united by a weak central government.
Bosnian officials argue that the Republika Srpska laws violate the peace agreement, which binds the two regions under shared institutions, including the army, top courts, and tax authorities. Following his meeting with Rutte, Željka Cvijanović, the Serb member of Bosnia’s presidency, stated it was wrong to “put the blame on one side only.” However, Denis Bećirović, the Bosniak member of the presidency, condemned the Serb moves as a “brutal attack on the constitutional order,” warning that destabilization in the region would only benefit Moscow.
“You have got to solve this, the three of you,” Rutte emphasized, addressing the presidency members. Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from Sarajevo, described the situation as “a tense and quite possibly dangerous moment” for Bosnia, with its power-sharing structures and institutions facing an unprecedented internal challenge.
### Hard-won peace ‘jeopardised’
The Bosnian Serb legislation was passed after a state court sentenced Milorad Dodik, the territory’s pro-Russia president, to one year in prison and a six-year ban from state office for defying Christian Schmidt, the international high representative overseeing Bosnia’s peace accords. Dodik, who has faced U.S. and British sanctions for his separatist actions, rejected the court’s decision, calling it anti-Serb.
The situation has raised fears of clashes between Bosnian- and Serb-dominated police, reminiscent of the early 1990s when Bosnian Serbs rebelled against Bosnia’s independence from Yugoslavia and sought to form a mini-state. During the Bosnian War, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia found that over 100,000 people were killed—over 70% of them Bosniak Muslims—in what is considered the only genocide in Europe since World War II. The 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces, remains one of the war’s most horrific events.
Despite the Dayton Agreement, Bosnia has struggled to progress due to a deeply divided society and stagnant economy. Bosniak politicians frequently accuse Republika Srpska of hindering the country’s advancement. Nevertheless, peace has been maintained since the agreement, and Rutte reiterated NATO’s commitment to preserving it.
“Three decades after the Dayton Peace Agreement, I can tell you: NATO remains firmly committed to the stability of this region and to the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Rutte declared. In response to the tensions, the European peacekeeping force in Bosnia has announced plans to increase the number of its soldiers.
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