The federal government has sharply rejected threats from Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik against the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt. Dodik had announced that he would have Schmidt arrested and deported if he entered the territory of the Serbian republic. He gave the police appropriate instructions. If Schmidt were to cross the Republika Srspska, an escort would ensure that he left as quickly as possible.
These statements were “completely unacceptable,” said a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin on Friday. Such an order would be “unlawful and a violation of the Dayton Peace Accords.” The High Representative oversees the implementation of the agreement that ended the Bosnian war in 1995 and has extensive powers. The Foreign Office spokesman added that Schmidt had “the full support of the federal government” in carrying out his duties.
Schmidt advises Dodik to stop his “self-centered craziness.”
Schmidt himself has announced that, unimpressed by Dodik’s threats, he wants to attend appointments in the Serbian republic, including in the capital Banja Luka. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the German, in view of Dodik’s “political madness” it is advisable to stay calm and carry out your own tasks. The Republika Srpska is “coming closer and closer to an autocracy in which the rule of law is no longer a benchmark.” He recommends that Dodik not pursue his “self-centered madness” any further.
Dodik has been pursuing a nationalist policy for years and is seeking to secede from Republika Srpska, which covers 49 percent of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s territory. He finds support for this from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. On the other hand, the Bosnian judiciary is investigating Dodik because of his secessionist efforts.
Prosecutors have filed charges that could carry a prison sentence of up to five years if Dodik is convicted. Bosnian Serbs then blocked roads on the administrative borders between Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat part of the country. In July, Schmidt, citing the so-called Bonn powers, annulled two laws signed by Dodik, with which he had previously declared decisions of the Bosnian Constitutional Court and Schmidt invalid.
Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán prevents EU sanctions
The Foreign Office spokesman said Dodik’s “continued secession policy” was doing the most harm to the residents of the republic. At the beginning of August, the federal government stopped four large infrastructure projects with a total volume of 120 million euros in the republic. Support had already been suspended in April after Dodik announced his withdrawal from the institutions of the Bosnian state, triggering the worst political crisis in the country’s history.
The US and Britain have imposed sanctions on Dodik and close allies. This would require unanimity in the EU, which Hungary is preventing. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán supports Dodik and Vučić, whom he recently invited to Budapest on the occasion of the national holiday and the opening of the World Athletics Championships. He openly campaigned for Dodik and, according to Dodik, recently promised the equivalent of 118 million euros in financial aid, which is supposed to be used to continue building the projects stopped by Germany.
Dodik has threatened to immediately declare the independence of Republika Srpska if Schmidt passes a law on state assets. According to the constitution, the central government is the legal owner. Dodik claims that the state assets in the territory of the republic belong to her. He tried to document this claim with the two laws that Schmidt and the Constitutional Court annulled. Dodik refused to recognize Schmidt as High Representative because, unlike his predecessors, he had not been confirmed by the UN Security Council; Russia and China rejected this. In the wake of the escalation in July, the Serb leader announced that he would henceforth ignore Schmidt’s decisions.