Word: referendum
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...European and American diplomats say Bosnia's territorial integrity is not up for debate and have warned that any referendum risks inflaming the country's already shaky ethnic balance. "The international community will not tolerate any attempt to undermine the territorial integrity or sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina," Valentin Inzko, the High Representative, emphasized last week after a meeting of the Peace Implementation Council, a body of 55 countries and agencies that still serves as the ultimate authority in Bosnia. In theory, Inzko has the power to cancel a referendum or remove any Bosnian politician from power - including those...
...Serb state, calling his cause during the 1990s Bosnian war "just and holy." The war has been over now for 14 years, but in Bosnia, many fear the question of independence for the country's Serbs could be reopened, this time not with guns and bombs but with a referendum...
...Republika Srpska parliament passed a law creating the legal framework for holding a referendum. The thing that remains unclear, however, is what kind of referendum it would be - one that calls for independence outright, or one that asks a more veiled question. Many Bosnian Muslims, known as Bosniaks, say that doesn't matter - they see the mere act of holding a referendum as an intentional provocation. "It's meaningless in its substance," said Kurt Bassuener, of the Democratization Policy Council, a U.S.-based democracy advocacy group. "But the act is very meaningful." The Bosnian war, in fact, was sparked...
...elections, the country saw a spike in nationalist rhetoric from both Bosniaks and Serbs - and the tenuous détente was derailed. This was when Dodik, who had previously been considered a moderate by many in the international community, began promising an independence referendum. Since that time, Bosnia has been virtually paralyzed...
...recent interviews with both the Bosnian and Serbian press, Dodik has insisted that any referendum will not call for independence, but will instead address the "unlawful" role of the High Representative, who represents the international community in Bosnia and holds wide powers to overrule or enforce government decisions. But he has also left open the door for a future vote on the status of the Republika Srpska and repeatedly called into question the legitimacy and long-term future of Bosnia. (Read: "E.U. and U.S. Talks Aim to End Bosnia Deadlock...