The president of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic defied rulings by the international envoy to Bosnia, whose role is to prevent the multi-ethnic Balkan state slipping back into conflict.

Bosnian prosecutors have ordered the detention of three top Bosnian Serb officials over a series of separatist actions in recent weeks that have heightened tensions in the Balkan country

The State Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday, March 12, for the leader of the Serb separatists, Milorad Dodik, and his aides for ignoring a summons to court,