In Bosnia, a referendum will be held on October 25 on the conviction of Milorad Dodik, leader of the Serbs.

The Bosnian Serb entity will hold a referendum on October 25 on the verdict against its president, Milorad Dodik, who was sentenced to one year in prison and six years of ineligibility for failing to comply with the decisions of the international high representative, but who refuses to leave his post. This decision was adopted during the night of Friday to Saturday, August 23, by the Parliament of Republika Srpska (RS), the Bosnian Serb entity, in Banja Luka, in the north of the country, at the end of an extraordinary session called to support Mr. Dodik, 66 years old.

The nationalist and secessionist president of the RS was convicted in February by the State Court in Sarajevo for failing to comply with the decisions of the high international representative, who is responsible for ensuring compliance in this Balkan country with the peace agreement signed nearly 30 years ago in Dayton, in the United States. The verdict was upheld on appeal on August ¹ .

Mr. Dodik, who has led the RS since 2006, avoided serving his prison sentence by converting it into fines of around €19,000. He refuses to leave his post, denouncing a trial aimed at "eliminating him from political life" and naming as its "instigator" the High Representative, Christian Schmidt, a former German minister who has been in Bosnia since 2021.

In the referendum, the people of the RS will be asked to answer several questions: whether they accept the decisions of the High Representative, the verdicts of the State Court and the decision of the Central Election Commission to remove Mr. Dodik from his presidential mandate on August 6.

Of the 65 MPs present, 50 voted in favor of holding the referendum, noted Parliament Speaker Nenad Stevandic. Opposition MPs, some of whom were present in the room, refused to vote. "I won't get in your way (...) but you're walking into a minefield," said Nebojsa Vukanovic, an opposition MP and fierce critic of Mr. Dodik. He denounced "an adventurist policy."

In recent days, Mr. Dodik has said he expects a "big 'no'" from the population in the referendum, and even threatened to organize a referendum on independence for the Serbian entity "if this will [of the people] is not respected," predicting a "big 'yes'."

Bosnia is divided into two entities, the RS and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, linked by a central government. The RS Parliament also adopted a series of "conclusions" , including one rejecting the authority of the High Representative, his "decisions" and "the consequences created by these decisions" .

Milorad Dodik was charged after Schmidt amended the country's criminal code in 2023 to add penalties for failure to comply with his own decisions. Parliament also "demanded" that Dodik "continue to serve as president of the RS" and "rejected the possibility" of holding early presidential elections to elect his successor.