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