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With the ӣ����Ƶ area boasting a Bosnian population greater than any city outside of Europe, it’s no surprise that two of its representatives in Congress would go to bat for the beleaguered Balkan nation.

U.S. Reps. Ann Wagner, R-Town and Country, and Wesley Bell, D-ӣ����Ƶ, have signed on as sponsors of a bill that would sanction criminals who seek to destroy the Dayton Peace Accords.

Wagner, who gained passage of similar bills in 2022 and 2024, said it is critical to “stop destabilizing actions in the region that have gotten worse,” Wagner said.

The peace agreement, reached in 1995, created the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. That nation is divided into two parts, one composed mainly of Bosnians and Croats, and the other of Serbs.

In recent years, supporters of the agreement have become concerned that Russia’s war in the Ukraine could help foster Serbian efforts to secede their part of the nation, known as the Republika Srpska, from the 30-year-old republic.

Bell agreed that the action is needed.

“Peace doesn’t keep itself,” Bell said. “We can’t afford to look the other way while corruption and division threaten hard-won peace.”

U.S. Reps. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Jake Auchincloss, D-Massachusetts, also signed up as sponsors.

ӣ����Ƶ is home to an estimated 70,000 Bosnian natives. Many of them live in south ӣ����Ƶ and south ӣ����Ƶ County, and still have relatives back in the Balkan area.