Tensions flared in Bosnia on Wednesday following reports that Bosnian state security officers tried to arrest the pro-Russian Bosnian Serb president but were prevented by his armed police.
Milorad Dodik, the president of the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia, is facing legal action for his separatist policies. Bosnian courts issued an arrest warrant for Dodik in March after he failed to appear for questioning.
Details surrounding Wednesday’s events east of Sarajevo, where Dodik was holding meetings, were unclear.
A spokesperson for the State Investigation and Security Agency, or SIPA, Jelena Miovcic, said the agency members “tried to implement a (court) order but SIPA members were prevented by the Republika Srpska police.”
No violence was reported and photos from the scene published in the media appeared to show unarmed Bosnian police inspectors and armed Serb police outside a government building.
Bosnian Serb television reported that SIPA agents left after “talking” to Bosnian Serb police. Dodik later said he felt “fine and safe” and that Bosnian police had no authority in Republika Srpska.
The incident adds to already high tensions in Bosnia which remains ethnically divided long after a bloody war in 1992-95 that killed 100,000 people and displaced millions.
Dodik, who leads the Serb-run half of Bosnia, has repeatedly called for the separation of the territory from the rest of Bosnia, fuelling fears of instability. He has faced U.S. and British sanctions for his separatism, but has had the support of Moscow.
