Serbs vote to weaken Bosnia, step up their secession drive

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The Bosnian Serb parliament has voted to launch a series of steps that would weaken the war-ravaged Balkan country’s central institutions as the Bosnian Serb leader stepped up his secession campaign despite a threat of new U.S. sanctions. The lawmakers voted Friday in favor of starting a procedure for Bosnian Serbs to withdraw from the Bosnian army, security services, tax system and judiciary. That is another follow-up to repeated threats by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik to secede, and incorporate about half of Bosnia with neighboring Serbia.