For years, the President of Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, has been stoking ethnic tensions and promoting his secessionist agenda. Recent legislation passed in RS in late June 2023 constitutes one of the most serious violations yet of the Dayton Peace Agreement and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitution since 1995. Upon Dodik’s instigation, the National Assembly of RS decided not to recognize the decisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Constitutional Court and to circumvent the directives of the High Representative (HR) for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt. Crucially, Schmidt can use his Bonn powers to overturn decisions that threaten the constitutional order of the country, and has already done so by declaring the decisions of the National Assembly of RS invalid and threatening penalties. Dodik, on his part, dismissed the HR’s decisions as unlawful, posing a serious problem for the EU.
RS is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a majority Bosnian Serb population and ruled by Dodik. In his quest for reunification with Serbia, he often steps on the Serbian government’s toes, especially now that Serbia is aiming to present itself as a constructive player in the dialogue with Kosovo.
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Source:: German Institute for International and Security Affairs
