Serbs vote to weaken Bosnia, step up their secession drive

The Bosnian Serb parliament has voted to launch a series of steps that would weaken the war-ravaged Balkan country’s central institutions as the Bosnian Serb leader stepped up his secession campaign despite a threat of new U.S. sanctions

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- The Bosnian Serb parliament voted Friday to launch a series of steps that could weaken war-ravaged Bosnia’s central authority. The ballot came as the Bosnian Serb leader stepped up his campaign to secede from the Balkan country, despite a threat of new U.S. and other sanctions.

Lawmakers voted in favor of starting a procedure for Bosnian Serbs to withdraw from the Bosnian army, security services, tax system and judiciary. That follows repeated threats by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik to secede, and incorporate about half of Bosnia with neighboring Serbia.

The vote in the 83-seat assembly was 49 for and three against. Most opposition lawmakers walked out or boycotted the vote, saying Dodik’s drive could not be carried out without more bloodshed in a country wrecked by past ethnic strife.

Dodik, the Bosnian Serb member of the tripartite Bosnian presidency, said Friday’s was a historic parliament session that would strengthen the Bosnian Serb mini state — formed as part of a U.S.-sponsored peace agreement that ended the Bosnian war in 1995.