site.btaSerbian President Vucic Calls for Calm after Republika Srpska President Dodik Loses Mandate

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called for calm on Wednesday following the earlier withdrawal of the mandate of Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik after his one-year prison sentence and six-year ban from holding political office for failing to comply with decisions of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina came into effect, Serbian broadcaster RTS reported.

“I ask everyone to respond simply, calmly, and rationally, without escalation,” Vucic said.

Vucic added that the situation in Republika Srpska is contributing to regional instability and expressed hope for a resolution to the ongoing crisis affecting all of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He noted that Dodik did not accept the Central Election Commission’s decision in Bosnia and Herzegovina and added that he did not consider Milorad Dodik to be the source of the crisis.

Earlier in the day, Dodik’s attorney filed a motion to substitute the prison sentence with a monetary fine, while Dodik stated that the legitimacy of his mandate should be determined by a public referendum.

The conviction of Milorad Dodik is without precedent in Bosnia, a country that has remained divided into two semi-autonomous entities since the end of the 1992-1995 interethnic war: Republika Srpska, predominantly inhabited by Bosnian Serbs, and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily home to Bosniak Muslims and Croats. Each entity operates its own government, parliament, and police force, but both are integrated through shared state-level institutions, including the judiciary, military, security agencies, and tax authority, as established by the Dayton Agreement, which ended the conflict. The agreement also mandates the position of the High Representative, who is granted extensive powers, such as enacting legislation and removing officials.

Dodik has consistently advocated for the secession of the Bosnian Serb entity from Bosnia and Herzegovina to join Serbia, prompting the previous United States administration to impose sanctions on him and his associates. He has also faced allegations of corruption and promoting pro-Russian policies.