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☆ NATO's Stoltenberg concerned by secessionist rhetoric in Bosnia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg shakes hands with Bosnian Prime Minister Borjana Kristo during his visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, November 20, 2023. Bosnia emerged from a 1992-1995 war with a federal structure uniting a Serb-dominated republic with a federation of Croats and Bosniak Muslims. "We are concerned by secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as .. foreign interference including Russia," Stoltenberg told reporters in Sarajevo, his first stop during a tour of the Western Balkans region. NATO has warned about risks for Bosnia from foreign interference, particularly from Russia, and agreed to help to shore up its ability to defend itself. Every country has the right to choose its security arrangements without foreign interference," Stoltenberg said after meeting the chairwoman of Bosnia's Council of Ministers, Borjana Kristo.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Borjana Kristo, Amel, Milorad Dodik, Stoltenberg, Christian Schmidt, " Stoltenberg, Borjana, Daria Sito, Toby Chopra, Peter Graff Organizations: NATO, Bosnian, REUTERS, Rights, Representative, UN Security Council, Bosnia's, Ministers, Thomson Locations: Sarajevo, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Rights SARAJEVO, Serbia, Russia, Western Balkans, Yugoslavia, masse, EU, Ukraine, Balkans, Bosnian, Russian Bosnian Serbs

☆ Bosnian girl creates 'folklore Barbie' as film wins doll new fans worldwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Esma Gljiva, an 11-year-old Bosnian girl, shows dolls that she dresses in traditional Bosnian costumes, hoping that her folklore Barbie will reach many, as the frenzy surrounding the launch of the "Barbie" movie spreads across the world, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, August 15, 2023. Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreSARAJEVO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - A Bosnian girl is making traditional Balkan costumes with headdresses and decorative aprons for Barbie dolls, hoping to create interest in her folklore Barbie as the new "Barbie" movie wins fans worldwide. Eleven-year-old Esma Gljiva from Sarajevo started her project more than a month ago after seeing poor quality figures in a souvenir shop. Esma has yet to see the Barbie movie, but her friends and family say she embodies the spirit of female independence and entrepreneurship that dominates the film. She says she would name her dolls the "Bosnian Barbie dolls"and she is planning costumes for a Bosnian folklore Ken.

Persons: Barbie, Esma, Ken, Daria Sito, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Reuters, Christian, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Bosnian, Sarajevo, Bosnia, Herzegovina, SARAJEVO, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Turkmenistan, Norway, Britain, Adana

☆ Serb victims commemorated in Bosnia town infamous for killings of non-Serbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A building is seen at the former Trnopolje detention camp near Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina November 13, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File PhotoAug 4 (Reuters) - Serbia and Bosnia's Serb Republic on Friday marked the 1995 exodus of Serbs from Croatia in a Bosnian town notorious for Serb war crimes during the Bosnian war, triggering outcry from survivors and human rights activists. "This is an ugly political message," said Gordana Katana, a journalist and activist from the Serb Republic's city of Banja Luka. Many Bosniak survivors feel hurt that victims from another state are commemorated in the town in which Bosniak victims have been ignored. Local Serb authorities have for years rejected pleas to raise a monument to the 102 children killed in Prijedor.

Persons: Dado, Gordana Katana, Satko Mujagic, Milorad Dodik, Aleksandar Vucic, Dodik, Daria Sito, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Bosnia's, Croatian, Local, Serbian, Thomson Locations: Prijedor, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Bosnia's Serb Republic, Croatia, Bosnian, Republic's, Banja Luka, Yugoslav, Slovenia, Belgrade, Croatian, Serb Republic

☆ U.S. sanctions four Bosnian Serb top officials for undermining peace deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SARAJEVO, July 31 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday imposed sanctions against four top Bosnian Serb officials, including the Serb member of the country's presidency, for undermining a U.S.-sponsored peace deal that ended the Balkan country's war in the 1990s. The constitution is part of the Dayton peace accords that ended the 1992-1995 Bosnian war in which 100,000 were killed, dividing the country into two autonomous regions, the Serb Republic and the Bosniak-Croat Federation, linked via a weak central government. Late in June, lawmakers in the Serb Republic voted to suspend rulings by Bosnia's constitutional court, a vote initiated by the region's separatist pro-Russian President Milorad Dodik who is already under U.S. and UK sanctions. "This action threatens the stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the hard-won peace underpinned by the Dayton Peace Agreement," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. They stepped up activities undermining state institutions in recent months, including suspension of decisions by an international peace envoy.

Persons: Bosnia's, Zeljka Cvijanovic, Matthew Miller, Milorad Dodik, Radovan Viskovic, Milos Bukejlovic, Nenad Stevandic, Brian E, Nelson, Cvijanovic, Stevandic, Radovan Kovacevic, Dodik, Daria Sito, Nick Macfie Organizations: Bosnian, U.S . State Department, - Croat Federation, Russian, U.S . Department of, Treasury, Terrorism, Financial, Dodik, Thomson Locations: SARAJEVO, United States, U.S, Serb Republic, Bosnian, Dayton, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia

☆ Bosnia envoy revokes Bosnian Serb laws defying the state, peace deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SARAJEVO, July 1 (Reuters) - Bosnia's international peace overseer, Christian Schmidt, on Saturday annulled two laws that Bosnian Serb parliament had adopted defying the constitution and the terms of a peace deal that ended the Balkan country's war in the 1990s. Schmidt, who as international High Representative in Bosnia has powers to impose laws and sack obstructive officials, also amended a law so that those seen as attacking the state institutions can be criminally prosecuted. "Recent decisions by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska directly violate the constitutional order of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Dayton peace agreement," Schmidt told a news conference in Sarajevo. The Serbs say they do not recognise Schmidt, who was appointed in 2021, as the high representative because the U.N. Security Council did not endorse his appointment. The U.S. embassy welcomed Schmidt's decisions, agreeing that he was defending the Dayton peace deal and the constitution upholding the rule of law in Bosnia.

Persons: Christian Schmidt, Schmidt, Milorad Dodik, Dodik, Daria Sito, Louise Heavens Organizations: Bosnian Serb, Representative, National Assembly, Russian, . Security, United States, Thomson Locations: SARAJEVO, Bosnian, Bosnia, Republika Srpska, Herzegovina, Dayton, Sarajevo, Republic, Serb Republic, United States, United Kingdom, U.S

☆ Western Balkans states discuss how to improve migration governance
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JAHORINA MOUNTAIN, Bosnia June 8 (Reuters) - Security and migration officials from six Western Balkans countries, all of which aspire to join the European Union, on Thursday pledged to work together with the EU and United Nations agencies to improve sustainable migration governance. "When it comes to the migrant crisis, we from the Western Balkans face not only humanitarian challenges but also security and political challenges," said Bosnia's Security Minister Nenad Nesic, who hosted the meeting at a mountain resort near the capital Sarajevo. "Trends in migration are very dynamic and the Western Balkans is a major transitory route," Ugochi Florence Daniels, the IOM Deputy Director General for Operations, told Reuters. "The action plan is an opportunity to deal with the immediate issues - trafficking and smuggling and sustainable returns," Daniels said. "It is also an opportunity to look at the longer-term opportunities that migration is bringing - remittances to the Western Balkans are $10 billion or 10% of GDP - that is a significant contribution to development," she added.

Persons: Nenad Nesic, Oliver Spasovski, Ugochi Florence Daniels, Daniels, Daria Sito, Angus MacSwan Organizations: European Union, EU, United Nations, Bosnia's, International Organisation for Migration, Operations, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bosnia, Balkans, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, East, Afghanistan, Asia, Africa, Sarajevo, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia's

☆ Hobbit houses spring up in Bosnia hills
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KRESEVO, Bosnia, May 11 (Reuters) - Four sisters are building the first Hobbit-style village in southeast Europe in the green hills of central Bosnia, hoping to attract fans of "The Lord of the Rings" books and movies as well as sharing their childhood memories. Last year Marija, a 28-year-old geology engineer, proposed to her sisters Milijana, Vedrana and Valentina that they build house in the style of the Hobbit homes in J.R.R. The sisters decided that their houses must include characteristics of the area where they live and that each sister would decorate one dwelling as she likes. [1/5] Milijana Milicevic stands in front of the hobbit house named "Lipa", in the Bosnian Hobbiton village, Rakova Noga, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 9, 2023. The other three houses, which should be completed soon, will also be named after local attractions.

☆ Bosnia Serb leader Dodik threatens to declare indepdendence
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BELGRADE, April 14 (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik on Friday told his ally Serbia he was seriously considering declaring the autonomous Serb Republic independent from the rest of Bosnia unless a row over a property law is resolved. Dodik's hardline Serb nationalism and pro-Russian stance have raised concern that Bosnia might fracture again along ethnic lines, a generation after its devastating war. According to constitution, the national parliament must adopt a property law that would be valid across Bosnia, but Dodik, who is president of the Serb Republic, says that deprives the Serb region in Bosnia of the right to its land, rivers and forests. During his 25 years in power either as the region's president or premier, Dodik has acted to strengthen the autonomy of the Serb region. Last month, Dodik ordered that Serb officials should halt all contacts and communication with US and UK ambassadors in Bosnia, after they had criticised his inflammatory rhetoric.

☆ Chinese consortium seals highway deal with Bosnia's Serb Republic
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SARAJEVO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A consortium of Chinese companies and the government of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic on Thursday sealed a 350 million marka ($190.5 million) loan deal for the construction of a section of a northern highway connecting the region with Serbia. China Overseas Engineering Group Co Ltd. and China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group Co Ltd., with help of the China Construction Bank, will plan, build and finance the 17-kilometre-long Brcko-Bijeljina section, Serb Republic Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic said at the signing ceremony. The Serb Republic wants to build a modern highway connecting most of its territory with Serbia, its political ally and largest trade partner. It turned to Chinese investors after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) declined to support the project, which it said was not vital. In August, the regional government signed a 650 million marka deal with China State Construction Engineering Corp. Ltd. (601668.SS) to build a 33-kilometre-long section of the same highway in northern Bosnia.

☆ Bosnian Serbs celebrate holiday banned by court
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/8] Members of Special police march during parade celebrations to mark their autonomous Serb Republic's national holiday, banned by the constitutional court, in East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, January 9, 2023. Fourteen war veterans' organisations filed criminal charges on Monday at a Sarajevo court against the Serb Republic leadership over violations of the constitutional court's ruling. Last week, Sarajevo war veterans announced protests against the holiday's celebration, but the police banned the gatherings saying it would step up their presence at the city borders. His role is not recognised by Serb Republic separatist President Milorad Dodik. Dodik, who addressed the parade and joined a ceremony in Banja Luka on Sunday, said no court would rule when Serbs celebrate their holidays, and said Serbs did not want to live in a multi-ethnic state.

☆ Election commission confirms preliminary results of Bosnia general vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SARAJEVO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Bosnia's election commission (CIK) confirmed preliminary results of Oct. 2 presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, showing the dominance of nationalist parties in parliaments at various levels of the Balkan country's governance. Bosnia remains a dysfunctional and unstable state almost three decades since the devastating conflict between its Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks as former Socialist Yugoslavia collapsed. The opposition parties that had accused him of rigging the vote have held two big rallies in Banja Luka after the vote. They asked the CIK to repeat the election in the Serb Republic but the commission rejected their request. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bosnian Serb pro-Russian leader renews secession threat
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BELGRADE, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik renewed his secession threat on Monday, a week after the general election in the ethnically-divided country showed his party remained dominant among the Serbs. Pro-Russian Dodik triggered the gravest political crisis in the postwar Bosnia last December when he tried to pull the Serb Republic out of key state institutions, such as judiciary, tax system and a joint armed forces. Under the Dayton peace agreement that ended its 1992-1995 war, Bosnia was split into two autonomous regions - the Serb Republic and the Federation shared by Croats and Bosniaks - linked by a weak national government. They held protests in the region's de facto capital Banja Luka, attended by thousands of supporters. read moreBosnia's election commission said it would look into all recount requests after final election results due in early November.

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