SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Bosnian Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday ordered the detention of Serb leader Milorad Dodik on charges of "threatening the constitutional order."
Dodik is the president of Republika Srpska (RS), the Serb-majority entity in Bosnia.
Alongside Dodik, the prosecutor's office also ordered the detention of RS Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic and National Assembly President Nenad Stevandic.
The move came ahead of a planned RS National Assembly session aimed at drafting a new constitution.
According to reports, the detention order has been forwarded to the police and the RS Interior Ministry.
Court Ruling and political fallout
In February, a Bosnian court sentenced Dodik to one year in prison and barred him from politics for six years for defying the authority of the top international official overseeing the implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.
Following the court ruling, the RS National Assembly voted to ban state institutions – including the Supreme Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, the Prosecutor's Office, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) – from operating within the RS entity.
Dodik, who signed measures defying Bosnia’s constitution, has stated that he will not comply with court or prosecutor’s office summons once the disputed laws take effect, claiming he will be protected by the RS police.
The national media have described these actions as a "coup," while the Bosnian Constitutional Court annulled his controversial decisions.
International response
Bosnia and Herzegovina's High Representative Christian Schmidt issued a strong warning regarding the proposed RS constitution draft.
Zeljka Cvijanovic, the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, called for the US to support a "rehabilitation" of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
"Bosnia can only overcome its current political and constitutional crisis through open and sincere internal dialogue, with support from neighboring countries," Cvijanovic said.
"I also believe that this process should be led by the strong leadership of the Trump administration because only that administration can address the negative legacy of various bureaucrats and globalist elites who, through their interventions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have turned it into a failed project," she added.
On Thursday, the EU called on Dodik to “refrain from provocative, divisive rhetoric and actions that question the country’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.”
Sentenced for disobeying international envoy
Dodik has repeatedly called for Republika Srpska’s secession from the rest of the country, with the possibility of joining neighboring Serbia.
After his sentencing, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic traveled to Bosnia to show his support for Dodik.
Dodik’s sentence stems from his long-standing conflict with Christian Schmidt, the international envoy overseeing Bosnia’s post-war governance. Under the US-sponsored Dayton Peace Agreement, Schmidt has the authority to impose decisions and amend laws in the country.
In June 2023, the RS legislative body ruled that Schmidt’s decisions should no longer be published in the entity’s Official Gazette.
Schmidt later announced that he had overturned this decision, but RS authorities ignored him, allowing the measure to take effect.
As a result, a lawsuit was filed against Dodik and Milos Lukic, director of the RS Official Gazette, for failing to comply with the high representative’s directives.