Speaking at a press conference, with the US and British ambassadors and the head of the European Commission Delegation at his side, Ashdown said that the authorities in Banja Luka had very little time left, just a few days or perhaps weeks, to reconsider their decision.
The message from the entire international community is clear: think again before it is too late, Ashdown said, noting that he was speaking on behalf of the European Union and the United States.
Despite expectations and speculations in the media, the High Representative did not announce any specific steps against Republika Srpska officials, but he did not rule out such action if the authorities in Banja Luka continued behaving the way they had been.
"If the SDS (Serbian Democratic Party)-led RS Government persists in this path, it will face the consequences of its actions, as sure as night follows day," Ashdown said.
The head of the European Commission Delegation to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Michael Humphreys, indicated that some sort of tacit sanctions were in place against the Bosnian Serb authorities.
He said that last week in New York representatives of the EU Troika refused to meet Bosnian Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic, a Serb, considering him partly responsible for the obstruction of police restructuring.
Ashdown went on to say that police reform must be implemented according to the principles defined by the European Commission, with the only alternative to this process being "total isolation" of Republika Srpska from the rest of Europe, including Serbia and Montenegro.
Ashdown and the US Ambassador to Sarajevo, Douglas McElhaney, particularly insisted on the fact that the international community could not allow Bosnia-Herzegovina to become a third hot spot in the Balkans, along with Kosovo and Serbia and Montenegro, and that such a situation could not not be tolerated.