Milorad Dodik, the president of the Serb-dominated entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, intensified his dispute with the world community on July 8 by filing what he called a "criminal complaint" against the internationally appointed high representative of the Balkan nation.
"I filed a criminal complaint against [High Representative Christian] Schmidt with the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Banja Luka because he has been dealing with the affairs of the high representative without authorization for a long time, for which there is no UN Security Council decision," Dodik said on July 8 on Twitter.
Dodik claimed that "with the intention of causing damage to Republika Srpska, Schmidt falsely presents himself as an official knowing that he was not appointed in accordance with Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement."
Under the 1995 Dayton accords, Schmidt has the power to impose laws as the final interpreter of the state constitution, though his decisions can be reviewed and questioned by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia, if the Office of the High Representative (OHR) approves.
The accords, which ended the 1992-95 Bosnian War, established an administrative system under which the Bosnian state remains partitioned between Republika Srpska (RS) and the Muslim Bosniak-Croat Federation, connected by a weak central government.
Leaders in the predominantly Serbian RS entity of Bosnia say they do not recognize Schmidt, who was appointed in 2021 as the high representative, because the UN Security Council did not endorse his appointment. China and Russia disputed his appointment because he was not confirmed by the council, but other countries said it was not required.
The high representative for Bosnia, Christian Schmidt (file photo)
Dodik also attacked the director of the Official Gazette of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dragan Prusina, and said he had filed a criminal complaint against him for the legally required publishing of the decrees of the High Representative’s Office.
A day earlier, Dodik signed into law controversial changes approved by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska that effectively allow it to disregard decisions made by Schmidt as the international envoy.
Following the action, decisions by the OHR are no longer published in the Bosnian Serb entity.
Ethnic Serbs of RS have for years resisted Bosnia's central authorities, with the entity’s assembly voting on June 27 to suspend recognition of any decisions by Bosnia's multiethnic Constitutional Court.
The moves by Dodik, who has led an increasingly inflammatory campaign for years to encourage support for his secessionist hopes, came a week after Schmidt canceled several controversial rulings that defy a peace deal that ended the country's civil war.
Schmidt on July 1 told journalists in Sarajevo that "the recent decisions taken by the Assembly of Republika Srpska represent a direct violation of the constitutional order of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and also of the Dayton peace agreement."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on July 8 accused Dodik of violating Bosnia’s constitution and undermining the Dayton accords.
A week ago, the British Embassy also said it backed Schmidt's actions and expressed the joint support of the so-called Quint nations for Bosnia -- the United States, Britain, Germany, France, and Italy.
On July 5, three leading European parliamentarians called on the European Union to “finally” impose sanctions on Dodik over his efforts “to systematically undermine" Bosnia-Herzegovina. Dodik is already under U.S. and U.K. sanctions.