Bosnia and Herzegovina issues international arrest warrant for Milorad Dodik

The Bosnia and Herzegovina Court has issued an international arrest warrant for Milorad Dodik, Republika Srpska entity president, and two other officials -- Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic and National Assembly Speaker Nenad Stevandic -- following ignoring a state-level arrest order last week.

The order, which implies that every police officer should immediately arrest these individuals, has been charged with unconstitutional conduct. Local media report Stevandic has fled to Serbia, thus avoiding arrest.

Dodik has not yet commented on the new order, but has posted to X that Republika Srpska is taking steps to form its border police, which will control the border between entity and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dodik's move, known for opposing Bosnian state institutions, has erupted a deep political crisis. He has refused to recognise the authority of the Bosnian Prosecutor and has rejected the legality of orders issued for his arrest. In a statement, he said he would not travel to Sarajevo to be questioned by authorities, Euronews reports, broadcasts Periscope.

Furthermore, Dodik was sentenced in late February for refusing to implement the international peace representative's decisions, Christian Schmidt, an act that is considered a violation of the constitution.

Meanwhile, after that sentence, he has introduced a series of laws aimed at paralysing Bosnia's security and judiciary institutions, affecting about half of the country's territory. However, these decisions have been temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court.

In the face of tensions, the European Peacekeeping Force (EUFOR) has announced it will increase its number of troops in Bosnia.

Dodik has been twice declared non grata person from the United States because of his actions against the Dayton Peace Agreement.