Bosnian Serb MPs were set to meet today to kickstart a controversial process of withdrawing from the country's central institutions, despite repeated warnings against the move from the West.
The Republika Srpska parliament was preparing to vote on a proposed timetable for withdrawing the country's Serb entity from a number of Bosnian institutions including the army, tax, and justice system in the next six months.
The process is being shepherded by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik - a former Western protégé turned nationalist - who has been threatening secession for years, but this time appears to be taking active steps to achieve the goal.
"The people who lead Republika Srpska are determined to implement this," Mr Dodik said late yesterday.
Following wars in the 1990s that killed roughly 100,000, NATO intervention in the Bosnian conflict helped hammer out the Dayton Accords, which divided the country along ethnic lines and codified a dizzying bureaucracy aimed at preventing future intercommunal violence.
One half of the country was given over to Bosnian Serbs while the other was to be ruled by a Muslim-Croat federation.
The two entities are held together by federal institutions - once weak but gradually beefed up over the years by a UN-appointed high representative.
In September, Mr Dodik announced plans to form a Bosnian Serb army, sparking concerns the action could ignite a new round of conflict in the Balkan country.
The move spurred a new round of shuttle diplomacy with Western envoys visiting Bosnia with the hopes of persuading Mr Dodik to stand down.
The Kremlin however supports Mr Dodik's actions, and the Bosnian Serb leader met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week.
