Germany urges EU member states to back sanctions against Bosnia’s Republika Srpska

BERLIN

Germany on Friday called on EU member states to support sanctions against Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two entities in Bosnia over “attacks on the constitutional integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

"Yesterday, the German government imposed entry bans on three high-ranking officials from the Republika Srpska. The German government is also advocating for EU sanctions. We have now moved forward with Austria, but other EU member states are invited to follow our initiative,” interim Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Amelie Titel told journalists in Berlin.

“Attacks on the constitutional integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina by leading politicians from the Republika Srpska, which are intended to deliberately weaken the entire state, are unacceptable and pose a threat to security and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire region," she added.

Titel vowed that “the protection of the fundamental principles of the Dayton peace agreement and the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the entire state are non-negotiable for the Federal Government."

She also called on Serbia to clamp down on “separatist tendencies in the Republika Srpska."

“The officials of the Republic of Serbia are called upon to reverse their political course, repeal unconstitutional laws, and refrain from establishing illegal parallel structures,” Titel said.

Germany and Austria have decided to ban entry to Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and two other senior figures from Bosnia's Serb entity Republika Srpska (RS), according to a statement released on Thursday.

Germany's Minister of State for Europe Anna Luehrmann and Austria's Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger discussed the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina at a meeting in Sarajevo, a German Foreign Ministry statement said.

They exchanged views on separatist actions by the RS.

The statement noted that Meinl-Reisinger and Luehrmann agreed that it was urgent to take decisive action against the perpetrators of the constitutional crisis and they conveyed this to Borjana Kristo, chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"The future of Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the EU, and Germany will continue to stand by Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Luehrmann.