Serbian president travels to Bosnia to support convicted Bosnian Serb leader

SARAJEVO/ISTANBUL

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina to support Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik after he was sentenced to a one-year prison term Wednesday.

In a ruling, a Bosnian court also banned Dodik from politics for six years for defying the authority of the top international official who implements the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.

Dodik is the president of Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity in Bosnia. He has repeatedly called for the entity to split from the rest of the country and possibly join neighboring Serbia.

Following the court's ruling, Vucic convened Serbia's National Security Council for an emergency meeting before traveling to Banja Luka, Bosnia.

Speaking to reporters there, Vucic voiced his support for Dodik, calling the court decision "shameful." He also claimed that the ruling was "unlawful" and "undemocratic" aimed at undermining Republika Srpska.

“Today is a difficult day for all Serbian people,” Vucic said.

After meeting with Vucic, Dodik said that peace remained a priority and that there were no plans for war.

He also announced plans to bar state judicial and security institutions from operating in Republika Srpska.

Claiming that the ruling was a "huge mistake," Dodik added: “We have our own reaction. As of today, there is no Bosnia and Herzegovina as you imagine it. We are still offering you a constitutional Bosnia and Herzegovina and you have a very short time to accept it, we will not wait for you for long.”

Other reactions to court decision

Luigi Soreca, special representative of the EU to Bosnia and Herzegovina, posted on social media that threats to constitutional order, sovereignty and territorial integrity do not benefit anyone.

“The best guarantee for this is the continuation of the EU integration process. Political actors have a responsibility to seize the opportunity presented to them to find common ground for the benefit of the citizens of the country and should take steps to make progress on the EU path,” he said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban voiced support for Dodik, calling the ruling against the democratically elected leader "regrettable" and urging stability in the Balkans.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic emphasized the need to wait until the sentence is final.

“This is not something that will take effect tomorrow, so it is not an immediate threat to the personal or the functioning of the country. We will see what will happen later in the appeal process,” he said.

Dodik accused of not respecting decisions imposed by peace envoy

Dodik’s sentence revolves around his clash with Christian Schmidt, the top international envoy overseeing peace. Under the US-sponsored peace agreement that ended the Bosnian War, Schmidt is able to impose decisions and change laws in the country.

However, in June 2023, Republika Srpska’s legislative body ruled that Schmidt’s decisions should not be published in the entity's Official Gazette.

Schmidt later announced that he had canceled this decision, but despite his statement, the decision went into effect.

A lawsuit was subsequently filed against Dodik and Republika Srpska Official Gazette Director Milos Lukic for not respecting the high representative’s decisions.