Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has announced drastic changes to Republika Srpska’s constitution while declaring a ‘war for the future’ of one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) two autonomous entities. Dodik’s statement came a day after the Prosecutor’s Office—a federal institution that Republika Srpska does not recognize—issued an arrest warrant against him.
Speaking before the parliament of RS, Dodik explained that the new constitution of Republika Srpska will override amendments imposed by former high representative Wolfgang Petritsch, which restructured the entity’s constitutional and legal system. He also made it clear that no external recognition is needed to implement the new constitution—a direct message to federal institutions, current high representative Christian Schmidt, and, more broadly, to Brussels and Western powers. The Republika Srpska president also invited the entity’s citizens to participate in the constitutional debate.
Dodik called the Office of the High Representative an ‘evil organization’, insisting that Schmidt’s position is illegitimate and must be abolished. ‘According to the new statute, BiH has no right to impose its norms where we do not want them,’ he declared.
‘BiH has no right to impose its norms where we do not want them’
Bosnia and Herzegovina, a fragile state in the Western Balkans created by the 1995 Dayton Agreement, has seen escalating tensions in recent weeks—largely due to its complex and often dysfunctional political structure. The country consists of two autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina—primarily inhabited by Muslim Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats—and Republika Srpska, where Bosnian Serbs form the majority. Each entity has its own legislature, judiciary, and executive authorities.
At the federal level, governance is shared by a three-member Presidency of BiH, with one representative from each of the country’s three constituent nations. Overseeing everything is the high representative of the international community, a supreme authority currently held by Christian Schmidt. The high representative has the power to impose or annul laws and to remove officials, including judges and democratically elected political leaders.
The current standoff escalated after Dodik was sentenced to a one-year prison term and barred from holding public office for six years in what many view as a politically motivated trial. His conviction was based on his refusal to comply with rulings issued by the high representative—an authority he does not recognize. Prosecutors largely ignored the fact that Dodik acted in accordance with Republika Srpska’s constitution, relying instead on the high representative’s controversial powers.
On Wednesday a federal arrest warrant was issued for Dodik and two other top Bosnian Serb officials, accusing them of violating Bosnia’s constitutional order. ‘Let's see how they are going to try to arrest us,’ Dodik said at a press conference. ‘We are not worried; we are determined. This is politically motivated, and we don’t want to take part in it.’
Due to the rising tensions, the European Union’s peacekeeping mission, EUFOR, has increased its presence in Bosnia this week. Hungary, a key contributor to EUFOR, has faced calls from some Bosniak and Croatian officials to withdraw its contingent, citing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s close ties with Dodik.
Following Dodik’s conviction, Orbán stood firmly by the Bosnian Serb leader, stating: ‘The political witch hunt against President Milorad Dodik is a sad example of the weaponization of the legal system against a democratically elected leader.’ He added that the decision also threatens the fragile stability of the Western Balkans.
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