The ruling coalition in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity continued to pursue a secessionist agenda with persistent attacks on the Dayton Peace Agreement and the BiH Constitution, High Representative Christian Schmidt wrote in his UN Security Council Report, seen by N1. The trial of RS President Milorad Dodik and RS Official Gazette Acting Director Milos Lukic for the criminal offense of failure to implement Decisions of the High Representative as prescribed by the BiH Criminal Code was also used for this purpose, he added.

“Undermining the State, its competences, and institutions remained an element of the secessionist agenda, and so did inflammatory and nationalistic rhetoric. The sessions of the RS National Assembly (RSNA) of 28 and 29 March 2024 are illustrative of this. On 28 March 2024, the RSNA adopted a set of conclusions demanding, among others, the annulment of all High Representative decisions, and the prohibition of their application and publishing in the Official Gazette. Should this not be done, the RSNA requests the elected representatives from the RS to stop taking part in decision-making at the level of BiH and to no longer return to this process,” the High Representative wrote, adding that the RSNA announced RS would withdraw from all previous agreements, including those establishing the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH, the indirect tax system of BiH and the Armed Forces of BiH.

On 29 March 2024, Schmidt recalled, the RSNA adopted a Draft Election Law of Republika Srpska which the RS opposition did not support.

“The RS Draft Election Law, which is currently undergoing a public debate phase before being put for a final vote, aims at creating a parallel election framework for the RS while taking over responsibilities of the BiH Central Election Commission. As such, it is in clear violation of the BiH Election Law and the BiH Constitution,” he noted. “This initiative should be seen in conjunction with the recently adopted Draft Law on Referendum and Citizens’ Initiative, which jointly reveal the intention of the RS ruling coalition to establish an independent, parallel legal and institutional framework for the conduct of elections and future referendum(s).

The German diplomat pointed out that the outcome of the 28-29 March 2024 RSNA sessions alone shows that the RS authorities still actively move to subvert the State of BiH, its competences and institutions, and thus the Dayton Peace Agreement.

“In addition to the actions to this end, the rhetoric of the RS ruling coalition party members – with RS President Milorad Dodik at the forefront – represents a threat to the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) order. In his address to the RSNA, the RS President openly suggested that the Bosniak population should live on only 25 percent of the country’s territory, which raised tension and fear. The Islamic Community of BiH perceived the statement as a ‘call for ethnic cleansing’. It represents a severe violation of the letter and of the spirit of reconciliation and of the GFAP and its peacekeeping goals,” the international peace envoy warned.

“The threat to paralyze State authorities by blocking their work and decision-making is a threat to the functionality of the State and its ability to carry out its responsibilities. The threat to proceed with unilaterally withdrawing the RS from the constitutional, legal, and institutional framework of the State is a destructive threat of establishing a parallel RS framework. If there were a detailed proposal by the RS or the Federation to improve the functionality or to redefine competences in certain areas, the way to address it would be through a transparent debate and finding a common position, and not through unilateral threats.”

Unprecedented levels of pressure on judicial institutions continued, he added.

“Particularly in the context of the trial against him, the RS President accused the BiH Court and the BiH Prosecutor’s Office of serving political interests as instigated by foreigners and threatened with their non-recognition in the RS in case he is convicted. He even labeled their staff as enemies of the Serb people,” he wrote in the UN Security Council report.

The High Representative also stressed that the BiH Constitutional Court is a particular target of the RS ruling coalition.

Actions against the Court involve the denial of the legitimacy of the Court and the disregard of its final and binding decisions on the territory of the RS, persistent calls for the removal of international judges from the Court, and the persistent failure to meet the constitutional obligation to appoint two judges from the RS, thereby hindering the normal functioning of the BiH Constitutional Court as the guardian of the constitutional and legal order of BiH, he added.

“The RS authorities underlined multiple times their readiness to declare independence if I, as High Representative, impose any piece of legislation, including the amendments to the BiH Election Law or the Law on State Property. Dodik also threatened to block BiH’s EU path in case of any imposition, which might trigger unforeseeable political consequences,” Schmidt concluded in his report when talking about the RS secession.

Schmidt sent the Report on the State of Security in Bosnia and Herzegovina to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who forwarded the report to the Security Council Chair, who sent it to the heads of permanent missions of all member countries of the UN Security Council. This UN body is in session on Wednesday.