(Changes dateline, updates with developments) By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Bosnian Serbs protesting against reforms imposed by Bosnia's powerful international peace envoy held talks with his legal experts on Monday, with both sides seeking to defuse a political crisis without losing face. Envoy Miroslav Lajcak last month revamped voting rules in the country's central government, saying he aimed to end frequent deadlocks between parties from the country's two autonomous halves, the Serb Republic and Muslim-Croat federation. The Muslim-Croat Federation supports Lajcak's reforms. But the Bosnian Serbs said the new rules threatened the autonomy they won at the end of the 1992-95 war, and threatened to walk out of government. Prime Minister Nikola Spiric, an ethnic Serb, resigned last week in protest at the measures. They left some room for manoeuvre, however, saying they would relent if Lajcak clarified his decision to reassure them they could not be outvoted by another ethnic group. "We ask that one sentence be added: that the majority ... cannot be from one people nor from one region," Milorad Dodik, Prime Minister of Bosnia's Serb Republic, told the Serb daily Vecernje Novosti in an interview on Monday. Spiric also said he would return to his post if the Bosnian Serb requests were fulfilled and he was given a new, more powerful mandate to proceed with reforms. Lajcak, whose international legal team was meeting Bosnian Serb experts to negotiate the clarification, sounded optimistic that the dispute could be resolved. "I expect the voice of reason to prevail," Lajcak told reporters in the Bosnian Serb regional capital Banja Luka. "If everyone is looking for a solution, they will surely find it. I expect less harsh words, less accusations and more serious work." Lajcak has said he would not give in to blackmail, but was willing to tackle "any eventual misunderstandings" related to his decision. Without the agreement, Bosnia will face prolonged talks on a new prime minister and cabinet and possibly new elections. Months of political tension could derail its already unsteady progress towards European Union membership. The European Union has backed Lajcak's reforms and wants proof that the country's three ethnic groups -- Croats, Muslims and Serbs -- are getting over the legacy of the war and are working together in a functioning state. (Writing by Ellie Tzortzi; Additional reporting by Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade and Reuters TV in Banja Luka;Editing by Caroline Drees)
