Government leaders in Bosnia-Herzegovina have held a symbolically important joint meeting in the ethnic Serb administrative capital for the first time since the Dayton peace treaty ended the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.

Milorad Dodik, prime minister of the Serb-dominated “entity” in the divided Balkan country, said he was optimistic Thursday’s meeting in Banja Luka could signal a swing back to constructive inter-ethnic dialogue rather than unrealistic attempts at centralisation.