Milorad Dodik officially replaced as entity president

Dodik lost his mandate in August when the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a final verdict finding him guilty of failing to implement the decisions of the international peace envoy, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt.

He continues to claim that he remains president "by the will of the people," while saying that Trisic-Babic’s only task is to deal with "formalities."

Dodik, however, previously acknowledged the state-level court decision paying the compensation for a one-year prison sentence and he also nominated a candidate to run in the snap elections for the entity president, called by the state-level election watchdog.

Ana Trisic-Babic serves as Dodik’s foreign policy adviser and is regarded as one of his loyal associates. Her name has also been mentioned in connection with the potential appointment of a person to lead Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU accession negotiations.

That same majority also voted on Saturday to repeal six laws passed by the Republika Srpska parliament in December 2024, which at the time sought to challenge the authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s judicial bodies and security agencies within the entity’s territory.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency member RS Zeljka Cvijanovic, a senior member of Dodik's SNSD party and Presidency member who is elected in the RS entity, told MPs that they had been forced to take this step because of the crisis which, in her view, was caused by High Representative Christian Schmidt. She described the decisions acknowledging that Dodik is no longer president of Republika Srpska, as well as the repeal of the disputed laws, as "an outstretched hand" aimed at stabilising the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The opposition sharply criticised both proposals, describing them as yet another manipulation by the ruling majority, which in the end accepted and implemented all of Schmidt’s decisions.