The failed attempt by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) to arrest Milorad Dodik highlighted the conflict between the Republika Srpska (RS) police forces, which are loyal to the entity's president, and state authorities.
This showed that neither the state nor the RS institutions have full control over the situation, Adi Ćerimagić, an analyst at the European Stability Initiative (ESI) from Berlin, told "Vijesti".
"This is a very unstable situation that has not gotten out of control so far due to the careful and measured actions of state institutions, above all. However, it is not sustainable in the long term, and it could get out of control at any moment. Therefore, it is extremely important to find a modality for returning to the legal framework as soon as possible, i.e. what is required and allowed by the laws and procedures in BiH," believes Ćerimagić.
SIPA members attempted to arrest Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik in East Sarajevo on Wednesday evening, but were prevented from doing so by members of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs.
SIPA inspectors arrived at the gate of the Administrative Center of the RS Government in East Sarajevo, with the aim of detaining Dodik for questioning, as he has been on the central warrant of the Court of BiH for more than a month. However, their intention was thwarted by armed members of the East Sarajevo Police Department, the Gendarmerie, and the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit of the RS Ministry of Interior. Lined up in front of the building, they prevented SIPA from entering the facility.
SIPA announced yesterday that it had hired a smaller number of plainclothes police officers "in order to reduce risk and avoid potential conflict when implementing arrest orders."
"This is also an indicator that the Agency is taking care not to endanger peace and security in Bosnia and Herzegovina," the agency said in a statement.
SIPA submitted a report to the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of BiH on the crimes committed and informed them that Dodik's arrest was not carried out because members of the RS Ministry of Interior opposed it by threatening to use force.
Media in BiH announced that the actions of the RS police could be qualified as the criminal offense of “armed rebellion”, “obstructing officials in the performance of their duties”, and “aiding the perpetrator of a criminal offense”.
A central arrest warrant has been issued in BiH for Dodik, as well as for the Speaker of the RS National Assembly Nenad Stevandić and the Prime Minister of RS Radovan Višković, because they did not respond to the state prosecutor's summons to be questioned on suspicion of having committed an "attack on the constitutional order of BiH."
The BiH Prosecutor's Office considers them most responsible for the adoption of laws in the RS, which prohibit the work of the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), as well as SIPA, on the territory of that entity of BiH.
The Constitutional Court of BiH invalidated these laws on March 7th.
The RS government decided to adopt the controversial laws after the Court of BiH on February 26 found Dodik guilty of failing to implement the decisions of the High Representative of the International Community in BiH, Kristian Schmidt, and sentenced him to a year in prison and a ban on holding the office of President of the RS for six years, from the date the verdict became final.
Last month, Interpol rejected a request from the BiH state court to issue an international arrest warrant for Dodik.
After the attempted arrest, he said that SIPA cannot operate on the territory of the RS and that he feels safe. He announced the initiation of proceedings against those who, in his opinion, violated the laws of the RS. He stressed that the RS institutions would take all measures to protect the constitutional order of the entity.
Schmidt blocks SNSD funding
High Representative Schmidt yesterday decided to suspend the payment of budget funds at all levels of government to the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), led by Dodik, and United Srpska (US), led by Stevandić, because, as he explained, these two parties are attacking the Dayton Agreement and the constitutional order of BiH.
He said at a press conference in Sarajevo that funds for financing the SNSD and the US will be blocked at all levels of government - state, entity, cantonal, city, municipal, as well as in the Brčko district, the Beta agency reported.
"The funds will be suspended and redirected to a special account at the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Schmidt.
This decision, as he pointed out, supports the efforts of BiH institutions to "oppose the current flagrant attacks by the ruling RS coalition, led by the SNSD and the US, on the basic principles of Dayton and the constitutional and legal order of BiH."
He pointed out that the leadership of the SNSD and the US "are at the forefront of attacking the constitutional order and violating Dayton."
"Anyone who violates these decisions will be subject to possible criminal prosecution. When the policies of the SNSD and the US change, I will consider annulling this decision," said Schmidt.
The United Kingdom welcomed Schmidt's decision.
"As we have consistently said before, anti-Dayton activities have consequences," British Ambassador to BiH Julian Riley announced on the X network.
According to BiH laws, each party in parliament receives budgetary funds proportional to its strength, for the needs of the election campaign and other activities.
Dodik's SNSD is the largest single party in the entity and state parliaments. According to the state election commission, it received about one million euros from the budget in 2023, Reuters reports.
Dodik officially opened the building of the Rectorate and the Music Academy of the University of East Sarajevo yesterday. Dodik left the building of the Administrative Center of the RS Government a few minutes before the opening, and showed three fingers to the gathered media teams. Traffic was open, and police measures were lighter than in previous days, Sarajevo media reported.
Speaking to reporters earlier yesterday in East Sarajevo, he said that the crisis in BiH is systemic, because the Dayton Agreement is not being respected and because Bosniak political partners have accepted that "a foreigner comes and imposes solutions."
"They are creating a false narrative that we are violating the constitutional order, and it was Christian Schmidt, that fake governor, a fascist, who violated it," Dodik said.
He reiterated that Schmidt does not have the legitimacy of the High Representative, because his appointment was not confirmed by the United Nations Security Council, but that Bosniak politicians accepted Schmidt as the High Representative and his powers because, as he assessed, it was against Republika Srpska.
"The most damage will be done to BiH, no country can survive this," Dodik said.
He further said that RS officials are being treated like "beasts that need to be arrested," emphasizing that the fact that RS makes up 49 percent of the territory of BiH cannot be ignored and that he does not accept such a way of acting towards its officials.
"If they intend to ignore that, that's their problem. Let the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina extradite this Schmidt to us, so that we can imprison him here and prosecute him, because he is falsely presenting himself," said Dodik.
He added that the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH have no authority on the territory of RS, emphasizing that the RS police officers "did their job" the night before last.
"They are tasked with protecting the facility. Three people appeared who claimed to be inspectors (SIPA). If anyone thinks that we will not defend ourselves through the institutions, of course we will," Dodik said.
Stating that "it is not in the character of Serbs to surrender", Dodik said that "none of the RS officials will be arrested".
Commenting on Schmidt's decision to block budgetary funding for his and Stevandic's parties, Dodik said that they were "vain fools".
"How is it possible that some political parties receive funds while others do not? That's their democracy," said Dodik, adding that he doesn't care about him or his decisions.
He stated that due to sanctions previously imposed on him by the US, he receives his salary by mail, that he is the President of the RS and does not receive a salary from the party.
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