(ANSA-AFP) - SARAJEVO, MAY 26 - Bosnia's Serb entity asked the UN Tuesday to scrap or curtail the powers held by the international envoy tasked with overseeing the peace agreement that has held the country together since its 1990s war. The previous envoy, Christian Schmidt, resigned earlier this month after five years in the posting, with reports that he'd left under pressure from the White House following years of tensions with Serb leaders. Schmidt's replacement is expected to be appointed by an international panel in June, but Bosnian Serb lawmakers have already flagged that they would oppose any candidate if the power of the postion remained unchanged. The declaration to the UN Security Council on Tuesday warns against retaining the broad powers of the Office of the High Representative, including the authority to impose or amend laws and to dismiss elected officials. It comes after years of escalating clashes with Republika Srpska leaders and Schmidt, which eventually led to strongman Milorad Dodik being ousted from the presidency for flouting the envoy's rulings. Bosnia has remained split between Serb and Bosniak-Croat entities, held together by weak central institutions, since the end of its civil war in 1995. Dodik, although now out of office, remains the de facto leader of the statelet and has increasingly sought to build relations with the US President Donald Trump's administration through intensive lobbying. Dodik had faced US sanctions over his separatist policies since 2017, but the measures were lifted last year without explanation. (ANSA-AFP).