Bosnian Serbs halt controversial plan for police reserve

SARAJEVO: The Serb-run half of Bosnia has shelved plans to form a civilian police reserve, its interior ministry said on Monday, after the proposal sparked tensions in a country still recovering from the 1990s war.

The Balkan country has been divided in two semi-autonomous entities -- the Serb-run Republika Srpska and a Muslim-Croat Federation -- since the end of the 1992-95 inter-ethnic conflict.

In April, controversy erupted after Republika Srpska lawmakers adopted draft legislation to train around 1,000 civilians to serve as a back-up police force, with the stated purpose of helping control an influx of migrants. The move raised fears among Bosnian Muslims, who viewed it as a threat, recalling bloodshed waged by paramilitary groups during the war.

A day before the bill was set for discussion, the Serb entity’s interior ministry said it would “withdraw articles relating to reserve police from the draft law on police,” according to a statement quoted by Bosnia’s Fena news agency. Yet the issue could be revisited in the future after “assessing again the needs and possibilities to introduce reserve police”, it added.