Milorad Dodik, the president of the Serb-dominated entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, escalated his disagreement with the international community on 8 July by filing what he called a “criminal complaint” against the internationally appointed high representative in Bosnia and Hercegovina.
“I have filed a criminal complaint against [High Representative Christian] Schmidt at the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Banja Luka District because he has been dealing with the high representative’s affairs without authorization, for which there is no decision from the UN Security Council,” Dodik said on Twitter on 8 July.
Dodik claimed that “with the aim of causing damage to Republika Srpska, Schmidt falsely presents himself as an official knowing that he was not appointed in accordance with Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement”.
According to the Dayton Agreement of 1995, Schmidt has the power to impose laws as the final interpreter of the state constitution, although his decisions can be reviewed and challenged by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia if approved by the Office of the High Representative (OHR).
The agreement, which ended the Bosnian War of 1992-1995, established an administrative system in which the Bosniak-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska share power, connected by a weak central government.
Leaders in the Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska in Bosnia say they do not recognize Schmidt, who was appointed in 2021 as the high representative, because his appointment was not approved by the UN Security Council. China and Russia opposed his appointment as it was not confirmed by the council, but other countries argued that it was not required.
Dodik also attacked the director of the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dragan Prusina, and said he had filed a criminal complaint against him for legally publishing decrees of the Office of the High Representative.
A day earlier, Dodik signed into law controversial amendments passed by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska that allow him to disregard decisions made by Schmidt as the international envoy.
Following the action, OHR decisions are no longer published in Bosnia’s Serb entity.
The ethnic Serbs in Republika Srpska have long resisted the authority of the central Bosnian government, with the entity’s assembly voting on 27 June to suspend recognition of any decisions from the multiethnic Constitutional Court of Bosnia.
Dodik’s moves, which have fueled tensions for years, came a week after Schmidt overturned several controversial decisions that contravened a peace agreement that ended the country’s civil war.
On 1 July, Schmidt told journalists in Sarajevo that “the recent decisions taken by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska represent a direct violation of the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina and also of the Dayton peace agreement”.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on 8 July accused Dodik of violating Bosnia’s constitution and undermining the Dayton Agreement.
A week earlier, the British Embassy also supported Schmidt’s actions and expressed the shared support of the Quint states – the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy – for Bosnia.
On 5 July, three senior European parliamentarians called on the European Union to “finally” impose sanctions on Dodik for his efforts to “systematically undermine” Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dodik is already under sanctions from the United States and the United Kingdom.
