Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina

BELGRADE - Republika Srpska must remain a driving force of prosperity and a foundation of stability despite all challenges, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a congratulatory message to Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik on occasion of January 9, Republika Srpska Day.

Ljubljana – Faris Kočan, a researcher at the Centre of International Relations at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences, believes the results of the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina available so far indicate time may have come for civic ideas as opposed to nationalism.

Türkiye is ready to give support for overcoming the problems regarding the upcoming elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sept. 6.

Milorad Dodik said on Wednesday that he has filed a criminal complaint against Sefik Dzaferovic, the current chairman of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, for allegedly abusing his position "by participating in the summit of the international Crimea Platform, without authorisation and without a decision from the presidency".

It was announced at a status conference at the Bosnian state court on Wednesday that the high-profile trial of prominent wartime political leader Ejup Ganic and nine other defendants who are accused of involvement in war crimes in the high-profile Dobrovoljacka Street case will begin on September 21.

Sakib Mahmuljin, the former commander of the Third Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, was sentenced by the Appeal Chamber of the State Court in April to eight years in prison for crimes committed in 1995 in Vozuca and Zavidovici.

But he is not serving his jail sentence and is instead undergoing medical treatment in Turkey, his lawyer confirmed to BIRN. 

But there is a considerable price to pay for these small steps towards basic functioning in the entity-level government. The larger thrust of Schmidt's proposal amounts to a sort of election gerrymandering by the Office of the High Representative, OHR.

Bosnia's top court has annulled a law adopted last year by the assembly of Bosnia's Serb-majority entity Republika Srpska, saying it could undermine the authority of the state Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices by creating separate bodies under its own authority.

Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency and head of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, the ruling party in Republika Srpska, has come under criticism after suggesting that religious officials' salaries should be paid by the entity.

During his visit to Banja Luka in December last year, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban promised 100 million euros in financial assistance to Bosnia's Serb-led entity, Republika Srpska, as part of Hungary's Responsible Neighbourhood policy, to enhance stability in the region.