Bosnia Serb PM prefers own police to EU

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The premier of the Serb-run part of Bosnia says he will not accept police reforms even if it breaks down talks with the European Union.

Prime Minister Milorad Dodik of Republika Srpska said the Bosnian Serb entity does not want a break in the talks on the stabilization and association with the European Union, Belgrade's FoNet news agency reported Tuesday.

However, Dodik said he will not approve reforms in the police organization of Bosnia-Herzegovina that would do away with distinctive Republika Srpska police.

"We cannot give up what we consider a minimum, and that is the police of Republika Srpska as an organizational unit with clear authority within the reconstructed police of Bosnia-Herzegovina," Dodik said.

The 1991-95 ethnic wars cut the former Yugoslavia into independent states.

The 1995 U.S.-brokered Dayton peace agreement ended the Bosnian war and declared Bosnia-Herzegovina a single state made up of two entities, the Serb-led Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croatian federation.