Dodik Bars Bosnian Authorities from Serb-Dominated Statelet, Sparking Fears of ‘Coup’ That Could Break Up Bosnia
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has vowed to ignore a summons from Bosnian state prosecutors who are investigating him for allegedly undermining the country’s constitutional order.
On Thursday, Bosnia’s central prosecutor announced it was probing Dodik’s passing of separatist laws, which effectively block national police and the judiciary from operating in the Serb-dominated autonomous statelet of Republika Srpska within Bosnia.
“I will not go to their political court, because Serbs no longer submit to inquisitions!” declared the 66-year-old leader a day after he signed the controversial laws, which were adopted by Serb lawmakers in February.
Since the end of Bosnia’s inter-ethnic conflict in the 1990s, the country has been divided into two autonomous regions—Republika Srpska and a Muslim-Croat federation—connected by a weak central government.
Bosnian officials argue that the laws violate the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 1992–95 war and binds the two entities under joint institutions, including the army, top courts, and tax authorities.
Last week, Dodik was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and banned from holding public office for six years after defying rulings by the top international official overseeing peace in the Balkan country. He has the right to appeal the verdict, which he claims is the result of a “political trial” intended to “eliminate him from the political arena.”
Growing Fears of Political Crisis
Denis Bećirović, the Bosnian Muslim member of the country’s joint presidency, said an appeal had been filed at the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to annul the legislation.
On Thursday, Bećirović met with the head of the European Union delegation in Bosnia and ambassadors from the bloc to discuss the crisis, which could escalate into clashes between rival Serb and central Bosnian police forces.
Veldin Kadić, a political science professor in Sarajevo, told a local broadcaster that Dodik’s actions had made the situation in the country “even more dangerous.”
Dodik, however, insisted on Thursday that neither he nor Republika Srpska pose a threat to Bosnia. He called for political talks within the country without interference from “foreigners.”
Later on Thursday, Dodik is set to meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade, according to a statement from the Serbian leader’s office.
For years, Dodik has pursued a separatist agenda that has brought him into conflict with Bosnia’s institutions. He has repeatedly threatened to withdraw the Serb statelet from Bosnia’s central institutions—including its army, judiciary, and tax system—prompting the United States to impose sanctions.
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