Bosnia protests: Hungary recognises convicted Dodik as legitimate leader
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it lodged a protest with Hungary after Milorad Dodik, who was removed as president of Republika Srpska (RS) following a court conviction, was officially received in Budapest as if he still held the position.
The ministry said Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó hosted Dodik on Wednesday in the capacity of “RS president,” even though Bosnia’s Central Election Commission (CIK) stripped him of his mandate after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced him in December 2023 to one year in prison and imposed a six-year political ban.
The sentence was converted into a fine, but the ban remains in effect.
“Minister Szijjártó misrepresented Milorad Dodik as president of the entity, even though, in line with decisions of Bosnia’s competent institutions, he no longer holds any official position in the country’s executive authorities,” the ministry said, calling Hungary’s move “offensive to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina” and contrary to diplomatic practice.
The ministry said Dodik used his appearance in Budapest to again push for secession and challenge Bosnia’s territorial integrity, while Szijjártó offered no reaction. It argued that Hungary’s reception of Dodik undermined mutual respect and created mistrust in Hungary’s political intentions.
At a joint news conference, Szijjártó reaffirmed support for Dodik, calling him a “legitimate leader elected by his citizens,” and he criticised Western governments for “lecturing, threats and sanctions” against Balkan leaders. “Hungary, by contrast, respects the sovereignty and legitimacy of leaders chosen by their citizens, including Milorad Dodik,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry said Hungary’s treatment of Dodik as an incumbent official disregards Bosnia’s legal decisions, distorts the facts and violates the country’s sovereignty.
Snap elections set for 23 November
The Central Election Commission (CIK) said snap elections will be held on 23 November to choose a new Republika Srpska president. Dodik said citizens would decide on his position and pledged an entity-wide referendum.
He has rejected the authority of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) and its head, Christian Schmidt, appointed under the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the 1992-1995 war.
In June 2023, the Republika Srpska National Assembly, led by Dodik, voted not to publish Schmidt’s decisions in the entity’s Official Gazette. Schmidt annulled the move, calling it unconstitutional.
After Dodik continued to declare that “RS will secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina,” prosecutors indicted him for “not respecting OHR decisions.” The court sentenced him to one year in prison and a six-year political ban, which was later converted to a fine. The CIK unanimously confirmed his dismissal.
Read also:
- No surprises: Hungary will not accept ruling against Milorad Dodik, says Orbán
- Fall from power: Bosnian Serb President Dodik stripped of mandate right after Orbán visit
A person elected to office by voters can only be removed from office by voters.
We all know who pulls the strings in Bosnia.
Dodik and his followers are unrepentant genocidists. Dodik has school textbooks in Republika Srpska portraying Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic as hero founders of the state with no mention of the genocidal war crimes they perpetrated and the fact that they are both serving sentences in The Hague.
If you were to ask where in Europe there are real Nazis it would be Republika Srpska and those Nazis have close allegiance to Russia which is why Dodik attracts Orban likes flies to shit.
What is decidedly more concerning is that and how our Politicians side with Mr. Dodik – he who, apart from his disturbing alternate facts, claimed the Ukraine invasion was justified, decorated Mr. Putin in 2023, and (@michaelsteiner will appreciate this) – he described Putin’s result in the presidential elections in mid-March 2024 *as confirmation that Putin enjoys tremendous trust among the Russian people and is leading the country in the right direction”, going on to state the Russian people have elected ‘a serious, responsible and wise statesman’ as their leader, he said.”