Latest news with #RepublikaSrpska
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
In a tiny European statelet, a Putin ally is running out of road
FacebookTweetLink When Bosnia's electoral authorities stripped Milorad Dodik of his post as president of the tiny Serb-majority statelet Republika Srpska, he did his best to appear unfazed. Instead, the divisive, genocide-denying nationalist laid down his own challenge to the institutions trying to topple him. 'What if I refuse?' he asked. Bosnia may be about to find out. Dodik, a key Balkan ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been in and around power in Bosnia since 2006, picking at the seams of the country's patchwork multiethnic state. That state was birthed in 1995 by the Dayton Peace Accords, which halted the violence that spread across the former Yugoslavia as it crumbled in the 1990s, driven by then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's frenzied push to create a 'Greater Serbia.' Although Dayton halted the Bosnian War, it left the country split along ethnic lines. Bosnia comprises two entities: the Federation, where Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) share power with Croats, and the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska. Above them sits a mostly toothless central government and a foreign 'High Representative,' who is bestowed with far-reaching powers to implement the deal and keep the peace. Dodik – who for years has threatened to split from Bosnia and 'reunite' with Serbia – was convicted in February of defying the orders of Christian Schmidt, the current High Representative. Last week, an appeals court upheld his one-year prison sentence and six-year ban on holding office. Although Dodik has avoided prison by paying a fine, Bosnia's electoral commission on Wednesday chose to apply the law which automatically removes an official from office if sentenced to more than six months in jail. After two decades of raging against Bosnia's state-level institutions, emboldened by his cast of illiberal allies and the lack of pushback from the European Union, many in Bosnia were stunned that authorities moved so quickly to implement the court's ruling. 'Since 2006, Dodik has done his damned best to weaken Bosnia's institutions and hollow out the state from the inside,' Arminka Helić, who fled the wars in the 1990s and now sits in Britain's House of Lords, told CNN. 'I don't think he would have expected, after all his threats and all the noise, that anyone would dare question his position.' The question now is whether Dodik goes quietly or puts up a fight, she said. For now, the latter looks more likely. Dodik has threatened to prevent new elections from taking place – if necessary, by force – and has looked to his allies in Belgrade, Moscow and Budapest for support. 'Surrender is not an option,' Dodik said. Moscow, which has long looked to Dodik to foment trouble in the Balkans, has warned that the region could spiral 'out of control.' Its embassy in Bosnia warned the country was making a 'historic mistake.' 'Has its reputation as the 'European powder keg' been forgotten…?' it asked. When Dodik first took power, Western diplomats were delighted. After the bloodbath of the 1990s, he seemed to herald an era of stability. For Madeleine Albright, then-US Secretary of State, Dodik was a 'breath of fresh air.' But since then, Dodik has refashioned himself as an unrepentant nationalist, denying the genocide of 8,000 Bosniaks at Srebrenica in 1995, the war's most notorious massacre, and often meeting with Putin in Moscow. For years, Dodik has raged against the structures of the Dayton agreement, making it harder for Bosnian institutions to operate in his entity and threatening, ultimately, to split Srpska from the rest of the country. He has made a nemesis of Christian Schmidt, the current High Representative and a former government minister in Germany under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel. Dodik casts Schmidt as an albatross around Srpska's neck, claiming his powers trample on the will of Serb voters. Since Dodik's conviction, his European allies have begun to take up his cause. Viktor Orbán, Hungary's prime minister, dismissed the case against Dodik as an attempt by the foreign-installed High Representative 'to remove him for opposing their globalist elite agenda.' Marko Djurić, Serbia's foreign minister, also said Schmidt was subjecting Dodik to 'a political witch hunt,' using 'undemocratic methods' to thwart 'the will of the people.' Focusing his complaints against Schmidt is a 'smart strategy,' Adnan Ćerimagić, a senior analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told CNN. Even defenders of Bosnia's institutions find it hard to justify the powers granted to Schmidt. High Representatives are appointed by a council comprising several Western nations and bestowed with the power to impose annul laws as well as appoint and remove officials. Paddy Ashdown, a former British MP who previously served as High Representative, said the role gave him 'powers that ought to make any liberal blush.' 'No other person in Europe today, at least in the democratic part, has that power: simply to wake up, access his website, and post new laws, decisions and dismiss people,' said Ćerimagić. Seeking more heavyweight diplomatic support, Dodik has begun to ramp up his overtures to the Trump administration, claiming that he, like the US president, has been subjected to 'lawfare' by an unelected bureaucrat. Echoing criticisms made by Vice President JD Vance in his infamous Munich speech earlier this year, Dodik has claimed that, in attempting to remove him from office, European authorities are ignoring the will of the people. He has also attempted to paint himself as a victimized Christian leader in a Muslim-majority country, said Helić. 'He wants to paint himself as a kindred soul sitting out there in a little entity in the Balkans, who is not only going through the same trials and tribulations that President Trump went through, but is also standing there as the sole figure defending the rule of law and Christianity from chaos,' she said. The electoral authorities' decision against Dodik will take effect once an appeals period expires. Early elections will then be called within 90 days. But confusion remains over who will enforce the decision if Dodik refuses to stand down, or obstructs the new elections. Although the EU expanded its peacekeeping force in the country in March, those troops did not move to detain Dodik even when a warrant was active for his arrest earlier this year. Jasmin Mujanović, a senior fellow at New Lines Institute, told CNN that Bosnian and European authorities will face a 'major test' if Dodik attempts to stay in post. 'If you can't deal with the likes of Milorad Dodik, at least from the EU's perspective, you really have no business talking about competing with the likes of (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin or whoever else,' he said. Although Dodik has threatened to defy the ruling, Mujanović said much of his support base in the entity has withered away. For months, there has been 'elite defection' in Republika Srpska, as the political opposition begins to imagine a 'post-Dodik future.' Nebojša Vukanović, founder of an opposition party in the entity, said only Dodik's total removal from office could end the 'constant crisis' in Bosnian politics, and would finally 'free the institutions to prosecute those responsible for crime and corruption.' Dodik is under US sanctions for cultivating a 'corrupt patronage network.' But although some in Srpska may be beginning to imagine political life without Dodik, Helić warned he could take reckless actions – such as attempting full secession from Bosnia – if he feels he has nothing to lose. 'A desperate man might decide to do something that would further destabilize the country,' she said.
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
In a tiny European statelet, a Putin ally is running out of road
FacebookTweetLink When Bosnia's electoral authorities stripped Milorad Dodik of his post as president of the tiny Serb-majority statelet Republika Srpska, he did his best to appear unfazed. Instead, the divisive, genocide-denying nationalist laid down his own challenge to the institutions trying to topple him. 'What if I refuse?' he asked. Bosnia may be about to find out. Dodik, a key Balkan ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been in and around power in Bosnia since 2006, picking at the seams of the country's patchwork multiethnic state. That state was birthed in 1995 by the Dayton Peace Accords, which halted the violence that spread across the former Yugoslavia as it crumbled in the 1990s, driven by then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's frenzied push to create a 'Greater Serbia.' Although Dayton halted the Bosnian War, it left the country split along ethnic lines. Bosnia comprises two entities: the Federation, where Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) share power with Croats, and the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska. Above them sits a mostly toothless central government and a foreign 'High Representative,' who is bestowed with far-reaching powers to implement the deal and keep the peace. Dodik – who for years has threatened to split from Bosnia and 'reunite' with Serbia – was convicted in February of defying the orders of Christian Schmidt, the current High Representative. Last week, an appeals court upheld his one-year prison sentence and six-year ban on holding office. Although Dodik has avoided prison by paying a fine, Bosnia's electoral commission on Wednesday chose to apply the law which automatically removes an official from office if sentenced to more than six months in jail. After two decades of raging against Bosnia's state-level institutions, emboldened by his cast of illiberal allies and the lack of pushback from the European Union, many in Bosnia were stunned that authorities moved so quickly to implement the court's ruling. 'Since 2006, Dodik has done his damned best to weaken Bosnia's institutions and hollow out the state from the inside,' Arminka Helić, who fled the wars in the 1990s and now sits in Britain's House of Lords, told CNN. 'I don't think he would have expected, after all his threats and all the noise, that anyone would dare question his position.' The question now is whether Dodik goes quietly or puts up a fight, she said. For now, the latter looks more likely. Dodik has threatened to prevent new elections from taking place – if necessary, by force – and has looked to his allies in Belgrade, Moscow and Budapest for support. 'Surrender is not an option,' Dodik said. Moscow, which has long looked to Dodik to foment trouble in the Balkans, has warned that the region could spiral 'out of control.' Its embassy in Bosnia warned the country was making a 'historic mistake.' 'Has its reputation as the 'European powder keg' been forgotten…?' it asked. When Dodik first took power, Western diplomats were delighted. After the bloodbath of the 1990s, he seemed to herald an era of stability. For Madeleine Albright, then-US Secretary of State, Dodik was a 'breath of fresh air.' But since then, Dodik has refashioned himself as an unrepentant nationalist, denying the genocide of 8,000 Bosniaks at Srebrenica in 1995, the war's most notorious massacre, and often meeting with Putin in Moscow. For years, Dodik has raged against the structures of the Dayton agreement, making it harder for Bosnian institutions to operate in his entity and threatening, ultimately, to split Srpska from the rest of the country. He has made a nemesis of Christian Schmidt, the current High Representative and a former government minister in Germany under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel. Dodik casts Schmidt as an albatross around Srpska's neck, claiming his powers trample on the will of Serb voters. Since Dodik's conviction, his European allies have begun to take up his cause. Viktor Orbán, Hungary's prime minister, dismissed the case against Dodik as an attempt by the foreign-installed High Representative 'to remove him for opposing their globalist elite agenda.' Marko Djurić, Serbia's foreign minister, also said Schmidt was subjecting Dodik to 'a political witch hunt,' using 'undemocratic methods' to thwart 'the will of the people.' Focusing his complaints against Schmidt is a 'smart strategy,' Adnan Ćerimagić, a senior analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told CNN. Even defenders of Bosnia's institutions find it hard to justify the powers granted to Schmidt. High Representatives are appointed by a council comprising several Western nations and bestowed with the power to impose annul laws as well as appoint and remove officials. Paddy Ashdown, a former British MP who previously served as High Representative, said the role gave him 'powers that ought to make any liberal blush.' 'No other person in Europe today, at least in the democratic part, has that power: simply to wake up, access his website, and post new laws, decisions and dismiss people,' said Ćerimagić. Seeking more heavyweight diplomatic support, Dodik has begun to ramp up his overtures to the Trump administration, claiming that he, like the US president, has been subjected to 'lawfare' by an unelected bureaucrat. Echoing criticisms made by Vice President JD Vance in his infamous Munich speech earlier this year, Dodik has claimed that, in attempting to remove him from office, European authorities are ignoring the will of the people. He has also attempted to paint himself as a victimized Christian leader in a Muslim-majority country, said Helić. 'He wants to paint himself as a kindred soul sitting out there in a little entity in the Balkans, who is not only going through the same trials and tribulations that President Trump went through, but is also standing there as the sole figure defending the rule of law and Christianity from chaos,' she said. The electoral authorities' decision against Dodik will take effect once an appeals period expires. Early elections will then be called within 90 days. But confusion remains over who will enforce the decision if Dodik refuses to stand down, or obstructs the new elections. Although the EU expanded its peacekeeping force in the country in March, those troops did not move to detain Dodik even when a warrant was active for his arrest earlier this year. Jasmin Mujanović, a senior fellow at New Lines Institute, told CNN that Bosnian and European authorities will face a 'major test' if Dodik attempts to stay in post. 'If you can't deal with the likes of Milorad Dodik, at least from the EU's perspective, you really have no business talking about competing with the likes of (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin or whoever else,' he said. Although Dodik has threatened to defy the ruling, Mujanović said much of his support base in the entity has withered away. For months, there has been 'elite defection' in Republika Srpska, as the political opposition begins to imagine a 'post-Dodik future.' Nebojša Vukanović, founder of an opposition party in the entity, said only Dodik's total removal from office could end the 'constant crisis' in Bosnian politics, and would finally 'free the institutions to prosecute those responsible for crime and corruption.' Dodik is under US sanctions for cultivating a 'corrupt patronage network.' But although some in Srpska may be beginning to imagine political life without Dodik, Helić warned he could take reckless actions – such as attempting full secession from Bosnia – if he feels he has nothing to lose. 'A desperate man might decide to do something that would further destabilize the country,' she said.
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
In a tiny European statelet, a Putin ally is running out of road
When Bosnia's electoral authorities stripped Milorad Dodik of his post as president of the tiny Serb-majority statelet Republika Srpska, he did his best to appear unfazed. Instead, the divisive, genocide-denying nationalist laid down his own challenge to the institutions trying to topple him. 'What if I refuse?' he asked. Bosnia may be about to find out. Dodik, a key Balkan ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been in and around power in Bosnia since 2006, picking at the seams of the country's patchwork multiethnic state. That state was birthed in 1995 by the Dayton Peace Accords, which halted the violence that spread across the former Yugoslavia as it crumbled in the 1990s, driven by then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's frenzied push to create a 'Greater Serbia.' Although Dayton halted the Bosnian War, it left the country split along ethnic lines. Bosnia comprises two entities: the Federation, where Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) share power with Croats, and the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska. Above them sits a mostly toothless central government and a foreign 'High Representative,' who is bestowed with far-reaching powers to implement the deal and keep the peace. Dodik – who for years has threatened to split from Bosnia and 'reunite' with Serbia – was convicted in February of defying the orders of Christian Schmidt, the current High Representative. Last week, an appeals court upheld his one-year prison sentence and six-year ban on holding office. Although Dodik has avoided prison by paying a fine, Bosnia's electoral commission on Wednesday chose to apply the law which automatically removes an official from office if sentenced to more than six months in jail. After two decades of raging against Bosnia's state-level institutions, emboldened by his cast of illiberal allies and the lack of pushback from the European Union, many in Bosnia were stunned that authorities moved so quickly to implement the court's ruling. 'Since 2006, Dodik has done his damned best to weaken Bosnia's institutions and hollow out the state from the inside,' Arminka Helić, who fled the wars in the 1990s and now sits in Britain's House of Lords, told CNN. 'I don't think he would have expected, after all his threats and all the noise, that anyone would dare question his position.' The question now is whether Dodik goes quietly or puts up a fight, she said. For now, the latter looks more likely. Dodik has threatened to prevent new elections from taking place – if necessary, by force – and has looked to his allies in Belgrade, Moscow and Budapest for support. 'Surrender is not an option,' Dodik said. Moscow, which has long looked to Dodik to foment trouble in the Balkans, has warned that the region could spiral 'out of control.' Its embassy in Bosnia warned the country was making a 'historic mistake.' 'Has its reputation as the 'European powder keg' been forgotten…?' it asked. When Dodik first took power, Western diplomats were delighted. After the bloodbath of the 1990s, he seemed to herald an era of stability. For Madeleine Albright, then-US Secretary of State, Dodik was a 'breath of fresh air.' But since then, Dodik has refashioned himself as an unrepentant nationalist, denying the genocide of 8,000 Bosniaks at Srebrenica in 1995, the war's most notorious massacre, and often meeting with Putin in Moscow. For years, Dodik has raged against the structures of the Dayton agreement, making it harder for Bosnian institutions to operate in his entity and threatening, ultimately, to split Srpska from the rest of the country. He has made a nemesis of Christian Schmidt, the current High Representative and a former government minister in Germany under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel. Dodik casts Schmidt as an albatross around Srpska's neck, claiming his powers trample on the will of Serb voters. Since Dodik's conviction, his European allies have begun to take up his cause. Viktor Orbán, Hungary's prime minister, dismissed the case against Dodik as an attempt by the foreign-installed High Representative 'to remove him for opposing their globalist elite agenda.' Marko Djurić, Serbia's foreign minister, also said Schmidt was subjecting Dodik to 'a political witch hunt,' using 'undemocratic methods' to thwart 'the will of the people.' Focusing his complaints against Schmidt is a 'smart strategy,' Adnan Ćerimagić, a senior analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told CNN. Even defenders of Bosnia's institutions find it hard to justify the powers granted to Schmidt. High Representatives are appointed by a council comprising several Western nations and bestowed with the power to impose annul laws as well as appoint and remove officials. Paddy Ashdown, a former British MP who previously served as High Representative, said the role gave him 'powers that ought to make any liberal blush.' 'No other person in Europe today, at least in the democratic part, has that power: simply to wake up, access his website, and post new laws, decisions and dismiss people,' said Ćerimagić. Seeking more heavyweight diplomatic support, Dodik has begun to ramp up his overtures to the Trump administration, claiming that he, like the US president, has been subjected to 'lawfare' by an unelected bureaucrat. Echoing criticisms made by Vice President JD Vance in his infamous Munich speech earlier this year, Dodik has claimed that, in attempting to remove him from office, European authorities are ignoring the will of the people. He has also attempted to paint himself as a victimized Christian leader in a Muslim-majority country, said Helić. 'He wants to paint himself as a kindred soul sitting out there in a little entity in the Balkans, who is not only going through the same trials and tribulations that President Trump went through, but is also standing there as the sole figure defending the rule of law and Christianity from chaos,' she said. The electoral authorities' decision against Dodik will take effect once an appeals period expires. Early elections will then be called within 90 days. But confusion remains over who will enforce the decision if Dodik refuses to stand down, or obstructs the new elections. Although the EU expanded its peacekeeping force in the country in March, those troops did not move to detain Dodik even when a warrant was active for his arrest earlier this year. Jasmin Mujanović, a senior fellow at New Lines Institute, told CNN that Bosnian and European authorities will face a 'major test' if Dodik attempts to stay in post. 'If you can't deal with the likes of Milorad Dodik, at least from the EU's perspective, you really have no business talking about competing with the likes of (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin or whoever else,' he said. Although Dodik has threatened to defy the ruling, Mujanović said much of his support base in the entity has withered away. For months, there has been 'elite defection' in Republika Srpska, as the political opposition begins to imagine a 'post-Dodik future.' Nebojša Vukanović, founder of an opposition party in the entity, said only Dodik's total removal from office could end the 'constant crisis' in Bosnian politics, and would finally 'free the institutions to prosecute those responsible for crime and corruption.' Dodik is under US sanctions for cultivating a 'corrupt patronage network.' But although some in Srpska may be beginning to imagine political life without Dodik, Helić warned he could take reckless actions – such as attempting full secession from Bosnia – if he feels he has nothing to lose. 'A desperate man might decide to do something that would further destabilize the country,' she said.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Nationalist Bosnian Serb leader rejects ruling to remove him from office
Serb nationalist Milorad Dodik has vowed to defy a ruling from Bosnia's election authorities to remove him as president of the country's autonomous Serb-run region, Republika Srpska, following a court conviction and a ban from holding political office. The pro- Russia Mr Dodik has dominated Bosnian Serb politics for 20 years and has repeatedly threatened to seek Republika Srpska's secession from the majority-Muslim country rather than go along with western-backed efforts to strengthen the central government in Sarajevo and break down ethnic divisions following Bosnia's devastating 1992-1995 war. An appeals court last week upheld a February verdict to jail Mr Dodik for a year and bar him from office for six years for defying edicts from an international high representative who oversees implementation of a 1995 peace deal known as the Dayton accords . In response to the court ruling, Bosnia's central election body announced on Wednesday that Mr Dodik (66) could no longer serve as president of Republika Srpska. He has the right to appeal the decision but, if it fails, snap elections to find his replacement will take place within 90 days. READ MORE 'Another s**tshow from Sarajevo. The last one,' Mr Dodik wrote on social media in response to Wednesday's ruling. 'Surrender is not an option.' [ Bosnian Serb leader Dodik threatens to declare indepdendence from Bosnia Opens in new window ] After his court appeal was thrown out last week, Mr Dodik said he counted on the support of Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin, the nationalist leaders of Serbia and Hungary – Aleksandar Vucic and Viktor Orban – and would seek the backing of US president Donald Trump. Srebrenica genocide: Why Bosnia is still divided 30 years on Listen | 39:42 'This has nothing to do with democracy or law. This is an attempt by Muslim political structures to dominate Bosnia,' Mr Dodik said when his appeal failed. 'I will seek help from Russia and I will write a letter to the US administration,' he added, while urging all political parties in Republika Srpska to boycott any snap presidential election in the region and threatening to 'deploy the police' to prevent any polling stations from being set up. He received strong backing from Mr Vucic and Mr Orban who, like Mr Dodik, portray themselves as champions of the people fighting for the wellbeing – and even the survival – of their nations against a shadowy liberal elite centred on Brussels. [ 'Facing the past is still our biggest problem': Bosnia divided 30 years after Srebrenica genocide Opens in new window ] 'President Dodik has been condemned for refusing to dance to the tune that Brussels is whistling. Hungary does not accept this decision,' Mr Orban said when welcoming Mr Dodik to Budapest on Tuesday. 'Attempts by EU-appointed overseers to remove him for opposing their globalist agenda are unacceptable. He is the rightful, elected leader of the Republika Srpska.' Mr Dodik is a frequent visitor to Russia and is under US sanctions for alleged corruption and for undermining Bosnian statehood.
Russia Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Bosnian Serb leader blasts decision to oust him
Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik has slammed Bosnia's election commission for revoking his mandate, calling it 'more crap from Sarajevo' in a post on X on Wednesday. The leader of the Serb-majority autonomous region has signaled that he will defy the ruling and not step down. Bosnia's Central Election Commission (CEC) earlier annulled Dodik's mandate after a Sarajevo court sentenced him to one year in prison and a six-year ban from political office for alleged anti-constitutional conduct. 'What if I refuse?.. That's just more crap from Sarajevo. The last,' Dodik wrote. 'Surrender and giving up do not exist. Surrender is not an option.' He pledged to remain in office, vowing to continue 'conscientiously and responsibly' performing his duties and defending the interests of the people while upholding the constitutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. Dodik is accused of blocking Constitutional Court rulings in Republika Srpska and defying Christian Schmidt, the international envoy for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Schmidt, a German national, heads the Office of the High Representative, which oversees the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the Bosnian War. Dodik has long accused Schmidt of overreach and infringing on Republika Srpska's autonomy. In February, a Sarajevo court ruled he acted illegally by signing laws that made Schmidt's decrees non-binding in the region. Dodik rejected the verdict, claiming Western powers were behind it, but his appeal was rejected by a Bosnian court last week. CEC member Suad Arnautovic claimed Dodik's removal from office follows the law, which applies to elected officials sentenced to more than six months in jail. The decision will take effect after the appeals period. If the appeals fail, early elections are expected within 90 days. Moscow, which does not recognize Schmidt's authority without UN Security Council approval, has condemned Dodik's conviction. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday called it 'absurd, unjust, and anti-democratic,' describing the case as 'fabricated' to remove 'an undesirable leader who consistently opposes Western neocolonialism.' She labeled Schmidt a 'useful idiot' of the West, which 'stubbornly continues to consider Bosnia and Herzegovina their protectorate.'
