After the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered the detention of Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, Prime Minister Radovan Višković and National Assembly deputy Nenad Stevandić, an arrest warrant was issued after they failed to appear at a hearing in a case in which they are accused of attacking the constitutional order.
The BiH Court has provided almost no information about this case for days, leaving everything to media speculation. It then issued a brief statement saying that it could only confirm that a decision had been made to accept the proposal of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, which ordered that the suspects Dodik, Stevandic and Viskovic be held in custody. "You will be informed about all other information when the conditions are met," the BiH Court announced.
The fugitives
"A central arrest warrant has been issued for the president of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik," said BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic, warning that he is a man who has disregarded BiH laws.
"He, Stevandic and Viskovic are currently considered fugitives in Bosnia and Herzegovina. An arrest warrant has been issued for them and we are providing strong support to the judicial authorities, who must continue with coolness and perseverance this judicial process, which will result in an arrest," the head of the Bosnian police is confident.
Many doubt this, given that the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) had previously reversed the court order to detain Dodik, Vishkovic, and Stevandic, explaining that it was a high-risk operation.
"SIPA and the BiH Ministry of Security do not have information indicating that the work of any law enforcement agency on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina is being hindered. The security situation is indeed complex, but the security services and law enforcement agencies responsible for the security sector are doing their job well and the security situation is under control," said the BiH Deputy Minister of Security.
After issuing a central arrest warrant, all police agencies in BiH are obliged to act according to the order of the Court of BiH, says federal Police Minister Ramo Isak.
Border control
"All police officers will receive an order to arrest the person in question, when such an order is issued. And that's it. All employees of the Federal Police Administration, the cantonal MUP and all agencies on the territory of BiH must fulfill their obligations."
Immediately after the issuance of the arrest warrant information, the RS authorities entered into the procedure of establishing a border police entity, which is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the RS authorities.
A working group has also been formed, which has held its first meeting to draft a law that will regulate the work of the border police in the territory of Republika Srpska. "The legal framework on which the Working Group is working will be exclusively in accordance with the Dayton Agreement and its Annex 2," Dodik wrote on the social network 'X'.
Dodik is referring to the period immediately after the war until 2000, when the RS border was controlled by the entity's police. He claims that then-High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch established a state border service, in violation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
Warnings are coming from Sarajevo that this is another move that further violates the Dayton Peace Agreement and the decisions that were accepted by Serbian representatives in the BiH Parliament during the reform process.
"This is part of a whole process that he is personally managing and it seems to me that he is only adding years and years of imprisonment to himself, which will soon, God willing, be his full reality in BiH," Konakovic is categorical.
The authorities in Republika Srpska are not stopping there, but have ordered the Ministry of Health of this entity to draft a draft law on the establishment of the RS Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices as soon as possible. Otherwise, the Agency is under the jurisdiction of BiH. A similar attempt to establish an entity agency took place in 2021, when the RS Assembly adopted the law on the establishment of an entity agency for medicines, but the Agency has not been formed. The law was adopted in 2021 by a narrow majority without the presence of the opposition.
According to the laws adopted a few days ago regarding the withdrawal of employees from the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH, SIPA and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council from Republika Srpska, fines and imprisonment are foreseen if their provisions are not respected. During this period, the government has invited employees several times to be transferred to the bodies of the entities under the same conditions, but so far there has been no response. Now the government has set an ultimatum to "take over" employees from state bodies in the entity by March 19 of this year.
"After this, the government of Republika Srpska will begin the procedure for repealing the acts that provide for this right," it was announced after the government session.
Visiting Moscow, Belgrade...
Although some media outlets have reported Dodik's departure to Moscow in recent days, there has been no official announcement. However, circles close to Dodik believe that the situation in BiH and the position of RS could be discussed during meetings between the US and Russian presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. On the other hand, reliable support comes from Serbia, where support from President Aleksandar Vučić arrives almost daily. He says that the situation in BiH is increasingly difficult, but that he will "discuss everything with European friends."
"He is a president, a brave man. He does not complain, but the situation is getting difficult. We will deal with it in the coming days. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow I will go to Brussels to talk to Mark Rutte and Marta Kos. After that I will go back to Brussels and talk to Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen. We will talk about RS."
According to available information, the speaker of the Assembly of Republika Srpska, Nenad Stevandic, is also in Serbia. Stevandic previously met with the speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabic, with whom he discussed the current political situation and expressed support for the Serbian authorities in what he called an "attempt to overthrow the state", which is related to the student protests./ DW (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
