BELGRADE, May 28. /TASS/. Milorad Dodik, leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats of the Republic of Srpska (one of the two constituent entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina), has warned that Bosnian Serbs may organize a referendum on whether it would be expedient to continue European integration in view of Brussels’ violation of the association agreement.
"The European Union not only tacitly approved [High Representative Christian] Schmidt’s tyranny and the violation of the principles it (the EU - TASS) had committed itself to under the Association Agreement, but official Brussels literally financed Schmidt by allocating him more than 50% of the High Representative’s office budget, enabling him to undermine the rule of law and democratic principles in Bosnia and Herzegovina," he wrote on his X page.
According to Dodik, such steps make the European Union an "accomplice of Schmidt who violated the provisions of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, and in the coming period we will try to initiate the dispute-resolution mechanism envisaged by the agreement."
"If political representatives of the other two peoples in joint institutions do not agree to this, we will ask the Serb people what they think about further EU accession. We will not allow Brussels to continue disenfranchising" the Republic of Srpska, Dodik stressed.
Under the constitution envisaged by the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Agreement) of 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina is comprised of two entities, namely the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (around 51% of the territory) and the Republic of Srpska (around 49%), as well as the Brcko District. The three key ethno-religious groups, i.e. Bosniaks (Slavs professing Islam), Serbs (Orthodox Christians), and Croats (Catholics), are proportionally represented in the state governance system.
In fact, the country is governed via the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose office was set up under the Dayton Agreement, and who is appointed by the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) upon the UN Security Council’s consent. However, in 2021, the Board members appointed Hans Christian Schmidt of Germany to the post without agreeing his candidature with the UN Security Council. For these reasons, his legitimacy has been challenged by the Republic of Srpska.
On May 10, Schmidt said he had tendered his resignation but will continue working until his successor is elected. Later, Dodik said that the Republic of Srpska would seek to limit the mandate of Schmidt’s successor to two years, and the entity’s parliament passed a resolution calling for the abolition of the Office of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.