(Bloomberg) — Lawmakers in the Serb-run half of Bosnia-Herzegovina voted to hold a referendum in defiance of central authorities who recently ordered the Bosnian Serb leader out of office amid growing ethnic tensions in the Balkan nation.
The move, which was approved unanimously by parliament in Banja Luka late Friday, was proposed by Milorad Dodik after the country’s top court in capital Sarajevo stripped him of his mandate as president of Republika Srpska and banned him from political office earlier this month. Previously, Dodik has clashed with Bosnia’s High Representative, Christian Schmidt, a German diplomat tasked with overseeing the implementation of a US-brokered peace accord that ended the brutal war in 1995.
The referendum, scheduled for Oct. 25, will ask the 1.2 million voters in the Bosnian Serb enclave if they “accept decisions of unelected foreigner Christian Schmidt and verdicts of unconstitutional court of Bosnia-Herzegovina” against Dodik.
The 66-year-old leader has said he expects the outcome to be a “resounding no.”
It’s the latest stage in a tug-of-war between the central government in Sarajevo and Dodik that could threaten the integrity of the country of 3.3 million. Dodik has successively claimed more autonomy for Republika Srpska, which he has dominated for nearly two decades, and threatened secession.
The Dayton accords ended the bloody civil war, which tore the country apart following the collapse of Yugoslavia. It left Bosnia-Herzegovina partially split between its wartime foes, with two entities — Republika Srpska and a federation of Croats and Muslims — loosely stitched together by the central government.
Schmidt and Bosnia’s Muslims, the country’s most populous group, have warned against moves that may lead to Serb secession. The European Union has considered moves to rein in Dodik, including sanctions, Bloomberg has reported.
But the Bosnian Serb leader has remained defiant, saying that Schmidt has overstepped his remit and banning central authorities from operating in Republika Srpska’s territory. That complicated any attempts by Sarajevo to enforce the arrest warrant. Dodik was then allowed to pay a fine instead of going to jail.
Dodik has vowed to seek support from his allies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Aleksandar Vucic, president of neighboring Serbia.
Dodik has also turned to the US.
“No one understands our predicament better than President Trump,” he posted on X this week, praising the US president for “common-sense politics and peace initiatives.” Trump has “prevailed, and so shall I. I will not be intimidated by threats of prison to remove me from office.”
However, Dodik has been under US sanctions since 2017 — during Trump’s first term — and UK sanctions since 2022, for undermining Bosnia’s postwar setup.
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