Banjaluka  - Bosnia's Serb Republic (RS) on Wednesday filed criminal charges against a former US diplomat, local media reported.

RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik told journalists in Banjaluka that charges were had been filed against Raffi Gregorian, who is deputy International High Representative in Bosnia.

Gregorian is charged of plotting against the Serb Republic, the Serb entity within Bosnia. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) is an ad hoc international institution set up to oversee the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian-Serb war.

"The charges are written and sent, " Dodik said.

Dodik alleged that Gregorian organized a group of judges and prosecutors and representatives of the civil sector who plotted to "criminalize RS" and stop "a positive trend of development" in the Serb Republic.

International High Representative in Bosnia Miroslav Lajcak said earlier Wednesday that the charges are "a direct challenge in the face of international community".

"In cases like that, there is only one loser and that loser is the one who challenges the international community," Lajcak warned.

Bosnia is made out of two autonomous regions - the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat federation, both under a weak central government.

Dodik has pushed hard for greater autonomy for the Serb Republic, and fewer powers for the OHR. (dpa)