What We're Watching: Bosnia's deepening political crisis

 Milorad Dodik

Bosnia on the brink: Bosnia is facing its worst political crisis since the end of the bloody Yugoslav civil war in 1995, which pitted ethnic Bosnians against Serbs and Croats and left more than 100,000 dead. What's going on? Well, when that war ended, the peace agreement created a special enclave within Bosnia for ethnic Serbs — the better to keep warring ethnicities apart. This has always been a messy arrangement, but now the nationalistic leader of that enclave, Milorad Dodik, is threatening to secede altogether, amid a spat over new laws meant to ban denial of the genocide that Serbs carried out against Bosnian Muslims during the war. A breakup of Bosnia could quickly lead to serious violence, and both the EU and US staunchly opposed the move. But Dodik is undaunted. He says that Serb-only institutions will be in place as soon as November. Asked how he'd pull this off, Dodik — who recently oversaw provocative military drills that spooked Bosnia's other ethnic groups — said "as the Slovenes did it." That's a not-so-veiled reference to the breakup of former Yugoslavia, which led to years of bloodshed. Indeed, it's not a good omen, and is raising fears of a return to the deadly violence of the 1990s.

More from GZERO Media

World leaders assemble for a group photo at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on November 19, 2024. The gathering was overshadowed by Donald Trump's impending return to the White House.

REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

With Trump about to take power again, one of the world's most important multilateral gatherings was an exercise in cowardice and smallness.

Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party Pete Hoekstra speaks during the Michigan GOP's Election Night Party.
REUTERS/Emily Elconin

Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped former Michigan congressman and Netherlands ambassadorPete Hoekstra to be US ambassador to Canada.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony for the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2020.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Donald Trump’s election win has Canadian premiers worried about the future of free trade. Trump has promised to levy across-the-board tariffs of between 10 and 20%, but it’s unclear whether Canada would be included.

Striking Canada Post workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

After years of struggles with their employer, Canada Post, posties in Canada have gone on strike as the holiday season settles in.

In this photo illustration, a Google Chrome logo seen displayed on a smartphone with a Google Logo in the background.
Reuters

The Department of Justice is fighting to force Google to sell off its Chrome browser in an antitrust action against the company.

Malawi soldiers part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) military mission for eastern Congo, wait for the ceremony to repatriate the two bodies of South African soldiers killed in the ongoing war between M23 rebels and the Congolese army in Goma, North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo February 20, 2024.
REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi

Fighters from the M23 rebel group in northeastern Congo have been targeting civilians in violation of a July ceasefire agreement, according to the Southern African Development Community, whose peacekeeping mandate was extended by a year on Wednesday.