UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations on Thursday urged all parties to show restraint in Bosnia, where ethnic Serb leader Milorad Dodik has refused to surrender to police for questioning over his alleged flouting of the constitution.

“We are concerned about recent developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

“We call on all political leaders to fully support and facilitate the work of state institutions in order to consolidate peace and ensure stability,” the spokesman added. “We urge all relevant actors to exercise restraint, refrain from divisive discourse and actions and instead to commit to constructive dialogue and cooperation.”

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors ordered police to bring in Dodik for questioning over his alleged undermining of the divided Balkan country’s constitution. Tensions have soared since Dodik was convicted last month for defying Christian Schmidt, the international envoy charged with overseeing the peace accords that ended Bosnia’s 1990s war.

Since the end of that conflict, the country has consisted of two autonomous halves — the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) and a Muslim-Croat region.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2025