High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt reiterated that a celebration of 9 January as the Day of Republika Srpska is a clear and direct failure to implement the final and binding decisions of the BiH Constitutional Court as well as the decisions of the High Representative of 1 July 2023.

He warned that a non-compliance with Constitutional Court decisions constitutes a criminal offense under the Bosnia and Herzegovina Criminal Code.

It is up to the law enforcement authorities, the BiH Prosecutor’s Office and police to take appropriate legally mandated next steps, especially in cases involving public officials or civil servants and their participation in the preparation or organization of the 9th January celebrations.

“The rule of law is an indispensable prerequisite for a stable and prosperous future for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but so are communication, dialogue, and compromise. These should be the guiding principles in deciding on a Day of Republika Srpska, as only then this will be a holiday that all citizens can embrace and celebrate and that can strengthen the bonds amongst RS citizens and not further divide them,” added the High Representative.

The holiday was declared unconstitutional in November 2018 but authorities in Bosnia's Serb-majority entity Republika Srpska continue to ignore the ruling of the Constitutional Court, despite criticism from the country’s Bosniaks and the international community.
The court ruled that the holiday was discriminatory against non-Serbs in Republika Srpska because January 9 is also a Serbian Orthodox religious holiday – the day of St Stephen, the patron saint of the entity.

Bosnian Serbs vehemently rejected the ruling and organised a referendum in September 2016, where the majority of the entity’s citizens voted in favour of the holiday.

The Constitutional Court then declared the referendum itself illegal, but the Republika Srpska National Assembly passed the Law on the Day of Republika Srpska, which named January 9 as a secular holiday.

That law was ruled unconstitutional too in March 2019.

In July 2023, High Representative used his special competencies and passed two decisions on blocking two previously adopted laws in Republika Srpska entity – one ignoring the decisions of Bosnia's Constitutional Court and other banning the publication of HR's decisions in the entity's Official Gazette.