Republika Srpska may declare independence if pressure intensifies

The Republika Srpska, an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, will officially break away if external pressure intensifies, the region’s president Milorad Dodik said following a meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

"We want dialogue. Remove [High Representative] Christian Schmidt, shut down his office, and get rid of his illegitimate mandate. You, in Brussels, are European folk. We can talk. Any new imposition [of anything] will force us to claim Republika Srpska's independence, and we are determined to do so," Dodik wrote on X.

According to the constitution proposed in the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Dayton Agreement), BiH consists of two entities: the Muslim-Croatian Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (about 51% of the territory of BiH) and Republika Srpska (about 49% of the territory), as well as the Brcko District. Three main peoples are proportionally represented in the public administration system: Bosniaks (the Slavs who converted to Islam), Serbs (Orthodox) and Croats (Catholics).

The country is essentially governed by a high representative of the international community (a position set up under the Dayton Agreement), who is appointed by the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council after approval by the UN Security Council. However, in May 2021, the ambassadors of the committee countries decided to appoint German Christian Schmidt as the new High Representative in BiH with no UN Security Council approval procedure. The leadership of the Republika Srpska, Russia, and China do not recognize his legitimacy.

The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina has scheduled early presidential elections in the Republika Srpska for November 23. This was preceded by the commission's decision to terminate Dodik's powers in the wake of his conviction for ignoring Schmidt's decisions. In response, the president announced that a referendum on confidence in the republic's leadership would be held on October 25.