The signing of the two laws by Mr. Dodik is seen as another step towards a potential showdown with the international community over the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb leader, has taken another step towards a showdown with the international community over the future of the country. On Friday, he signed a controversial piece of legislation into law, setting up a potential clash with international envoy Christian Schmidt.

The law in question allows Republika Srpska (RS), an entity within Bosnia, to bypass or ignore decisions made by the international envoy, who wields considerable executive powers. Dodik is also likely to sign another law that would suspend RS's recognition of rulings made by the Bosnia Constitutional Court.

The moves have been widely condemned in the West, with the US, the UK, and the European Union all expressing concerns that the laws threaten the landmark 1995 peace agreement that ended the civil war in Bosnia.

In response to Dodik's latest move, Schmidt passed an executive order last weekend that deemed the laws illegal and prevented their implementation. He also passed a measure that would allow Bosnia's judiciary to prosecute politicians who oppose his orders and those of the Constitutional Court with punishments of up to five years' imprisonment.

Dodik has vowed to oppose the international envoy, saying that he is ready to "sacrifice and go to the end" because he has no choice. He has also promised to hold a referendum at the end of the year on RS's future status.

The signing of the two laws by Dodik is just the latest in a series of inflammatory political moves engineered by him. Since coming to power, he has long campaigned for secession from Bosnia and the country has been governed by a dysfunctional administrative system created by the Dayton Agreement, which ended the conflict in the 1990s but has largely failed to provide a framework for the country's political development.

The ongoing battle between the Bosnian Serb leader and the international envoy has added further uncertainty to the already complex situation in the country, with the outcome of the standoff likely to determine the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina.