VALENTIN INZKO

A country stitched together after genocide is unraveling amid a debate about the reality of those crimes.

Schmidt on Monday took office as the top international official in Bosnia, amid tensions with the country's Serbs who have rejected both his appointment and a ban on genocide denial brought by his predecessor. (AP Photo) (Uncredited)SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — (AP) — A German diplomat on Monday took office as the top international envoy to Bosnia, facing opposition from the country's Serbs, who have rejected both his appointment and a ban on genocide denial brought by his predecessor. Christian Schmidt took over from Valentin Inzko, an Austrian diplomat, at a ceremony in the capital, Sarajevo. In response, the Bosnian Serb nationalists have pledged to block Bosnia's joint institutions and the assembly of the Bosnian Serb entity, the Republika Srpska, has overwhelmingly rejected Inzko's decision. The genocide in Srebrenica happened after Bosnian Serbs took control over the eastern enclave in July 1995.

A German diplomat has taken office as the top international official in Bosnia.

The official Bosnian Serb television channel said Friday's vote was unanimous and presented “response and protection” from Inzko's genocide denial ban. It was also seen as a show of unity behind nationalist Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who advocates the separation of Bosnian Serbs from Bosnia. Both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court for Former Yugoslavia declared the Bosnian Serb killings of more than 8,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica during the Bosnian War as genocide. But Bosnian Serb officials and officials in neighboring Serbia have refused to accept the designation. “Inzko's decision will not be possible,” Bosnian Serb parliament speaker Nedeljko Sarovic said after Friday's vote.

The top international overseer of Bosnia's 1995 peace agreement says Western powers should adopt a new approach to promoting reconciliation to prevent nativist leaders from turning the politically fragmented Balkan country into a deserted wasteland.

Bosnian Serb political leaders have pledged to block decision-making in the country's institutions to protest a recent move by the top international envoy in Bosnia to outlaw genocide denial.

Bosnia Srebrenica Anniversary A woman visits the memorial cemetery in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia, Sunday, July 11, 2021. The brutal execution of more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks by Bosnian Serb troops is being commemorated by a series of events Sunday. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) (Darko Bandic)SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — (AP) — The top international official in Bosnia on Friday banned denial of genocide in the Balkan country to counter attempts by Bosnia’s Serbs to deny the scope of the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, Europe's only post-World War II genocide. The killings of more than 8,000 Bosniaks by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica was declared a genocide by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court for Former Yugoslavia. Both Bosnian Serbs and Serbia, which backed the Bosnian Serbs during the war, have called the massacre a crime, refusing to acknowledge it was genocide.

The top international official in Bosnia has outlawed denial of genocide in the Balkan country.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The top international official in Bosnia on Friday banned denial of genocide in the Balkan country to counter attempts by Bosnia’s Serbs to deny the scope of the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, Europe's only post-World War II genocide. The killings of more than 8,000 Bosniaks by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica was declared a genocide by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court for Former Yugoslavia.

The U.N. Security Council has rejected a resolution put forward by Russia and China that would have immediately stripped the powers of the international high representative overseeing implementation of the 1995 peace agreement that ended the devastating war in Bosnia.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday rejected a resolution put forward by Russia and China that would have immediately stripped the powers of the international high representative overseeing implementation of the 1995 peace agreement that ended the devastating war in Bosnia, and eliminated the position entirely in one year. The draft resolution failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes for adoption. The vote was 2-0, with only Russia and China voting “yes” and the 13 other council members abstaining.

Russia and  China have circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would immediately strip the powers of the international high representative overseeing implementation of the 1995 peace agreement that ended the devastating war in Bosnia

A German diplomat has been chosen to head a powerful international body in Bosnia that oversees implementation of a 1995 peace agreement that ended a devastating war in the Balkan country.

The top international official in Bosnia warned Tuesday that ethnic Serb leaders are making a concerted effort to split the country, or failing that to roll back many reforms achieved during the last 25 years, and he called for “a decisive stand” to stop any division. Valentin Inzko told the U.N. Security Council the challenge to Bosnia’s once multiethnic society comprising Serbs, Muslims and Croats is being led by the Bosnian Serbs’ top politician, Milorad Dodik, who is the Serb member of the country’s three-member presidency.