Bosnia's OHR Condemns Push to Rename Republika Srpska

The OHR, the international institution overseeing peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Thursday condemned an initiative by the leading Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, to challenge the name of the country's mainly Serbian entity, Republika Srpska .

The SDA has said it wants the country's top court to rule on whether the name of entity was discriminatory against non-Serbs.

"The announcement of an initiative to challenge the name of Republika Srpska in front of the Constitutional Court of BiH in the midst of discussions on government formation is irresponsible and counterproductive, and further undermines the trust between constituent peoples and their political representatives," the OHR said in a statement.

Commenting on the initiative, High Representative Valentin Inzko recalled that the constitution of Bosnia recognises that the country consists of two entities, called the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.

Zeljko Komsic, Croat member of Bosnian presidency, told N1 television on Thursday that he suspected the row was designed to benefit the SDA and the main Serbian party, the Alliance of Independent Democrats, SNSD.

"All this seems to me as an agreement between SNSD and SDA. Both draw benefit from such a situation," he said.

"The SDA, to put on extra pressure to be part of the new government. And the SNSD benefits because it 'kills' the little remaining opposition in RS, and completely 'kills' the NATO story in Bosnia," he added.

Bosnian Serb political leaders at a meeting in Banja Luka, the administrative centre of the RS, issued a joint statement that said: "The initiative is anti-Serbian and anti-constitutional, and a direct strike at the integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and...