The United States and United Kingdom said on Wednesday that elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina must be held in line with current legal provisions and that anyone trying to prevent them or take steps which may destabilise the country could face serious consequences.

The embassies of the two countries in Sarajevo issued separate statements after earlier in the day the Central Election Commission (SIP) called general elections for 2 October and after Dragan Covic, president of the Croat HDZ BiH party, sent a letter to a number of international officials warning that the decision to call the elections is contrary to the rule of law and poses a direct threat to peace and political stability in the country.

In a letter to Western diplomats, Covic said that parties gathered in the Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HNS BiH) would launch all legal procedures and political steps for a new institutional and territorial structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, based on the principles of federalism and consociation democracy.

Bosniak politicians on Wednesday did not comment on Covic’s statement while the Serb member of the BiH Presidency, Milorad Dodik, welcomed it.

Dodik said Covic’s announcement was the beginning of the process of establishment of a third entity in the country, noting that he had nothing against it on the condition it in no way questioned the territorial integrity and status of the Serb entity of Republika Srpska.

The US Embassy in Sarajevo warned that all BiH officials have the responsibility under the constitution to guarantee citizens their democratic right to vote in free, fair and timely elections. Obstructing the financing and implementation of elections or threats of further division of BiH are contrary to the Dayton peace agreement and are destabilising, the embassy said.

The UK Embassy sent local media a statement saying that London was ready to impose sanctions on those who decide to bring into question BiH’s stability and that it took attempts to destabilise or threaten BiH seriously.