The High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt participated as a panellist at the Dubrovnik Forum where he was asked about the latest use of Bonn powers, the continuation of provocations by the President of the Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, and plans for further reactions to this issue.

“I don't know what Milorad Dodik is on, but it seems that it is a drug of pride that does not offer him a connection with political reality. That's why we have to keep this under control,” he stated, referring to the recent use of his powers when he annulled the Law on non-enforcement of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the RS, invalidated the Law prohibiting the publication of Office of the High Representative (OHR) decisions in the Official Gazette of the RS, and announced changes to the Criminal Code of BiH in such a way that actions that violate the constitutional order of BiH will be treated as a criminal offence.

He Noted that Milorad Dodik tested Dayton aggressively this time.

“I can say that he lives in a dream world. He knows what it means to violate Dayton and the Constitution of BiH. He is trying to destroy the Constitutional Court, which he knows is necessary for European integration. This is unacceptable,” Schmidt stressed.

Nevertheless, he pointed out that he still hopes that the RS President will understand that he still has the opportunity to show constructiveness.

“I hope that it will all happen in the coming weeks. We are not talking about relaxing attitudes here. We are talking about action and reaction here. I had to do this. If I accepted on behalf of the international community that someone who does not allow the selection of judges, does not accept their decisions… that violates the rights of all citizens! Would we accept that Dodik is trying to turn RS into Transnistria? We will not allow that,” Schmidt said decisively.