SARAJEVO, March 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - NATO chief Mark Rutte was set to land in Bosnia on Monday amid a festering political crisis that has seen the country's high representative locked in a bitter feud with the president of its Serb statelet. 

Political tensions have been soaring since Milorad Dodik -- the president of Republika Srpska (RS) -- was convicted last month for defying Christian Schmidt, the high representative charged with overseeing Bosnia's peace accords.

Since the end of Bosnia's inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, the country has consisted of two autonomous halves -- the Serb-dominated RS and a Muslim-Croat region. 

The two entities have their own governments and parliaments and are linked by weak central institutions.

Rutte's visit comes just days after Bosnia's Constitutional Court struck down legislation signed by Dodik that rejected the authority of the federal police and judiciary within the RS. 

Last week, Dodik also ignored a summons from Bosnia's chief prosecutor, who is investigating the leader for allegedly undermining the constitution.

Bosnia's divided politics and fragile, post-war institutions have faced increasing uncertainty amid the unfolding crisis. 

In response to the growing tensions, the European Union Force (EUFOR) last week said it would "temporarily increase" the size of its peacekeeping mission in the country.

Dodik's actions come in the context of ongoing tensions with Schmidt, who holds broad powers to intervene in Bosnia's governance. 

The RS leader had already pushed through two laws that refused to recognise decisions made by the High Representative and Bosnia's Constitutional Court.

That led to his conviction last month and his being sentenced to a year in prison and six-year ban from office. 

For years, Dodik relentlessly pursued a separatist agenda, while repeatedly threatening to pull the Serb statelet out of Bosnia's central institutions -- including its army, judiciary and tax system, which has led to sanctions from the US.

Rutte's visit also comes as the trans-Atlantic alliance faces fresh headwinds unleashed by US President Donald Trump's reshuffling of relations with many of Washington's long-time security partners. 

For years, NATO has helped underwrite Bosnia's security, following the alliance's intervention in its war during the 1990s, which helped end the conflict that claimed nearly 100,000 lives. 

With a headquarters in the capital in Sarajevo, the alliance works closely with the EUFOR mission on the ground.