The issuing of arrest warrants against key institutional leaders of Republika Srpska represents “the culmination of the collapse of anti-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina”, according to lawyer and constitutional analyst Slavko Mitrović. In an article published in Glas Srpske, Mitrović denounces what he calls an “institutional drift led by an extra-constitutional court and prosecutor’s office based in Sarajevo”, which he says operate in violation of the Dayton Agreement.

The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nenad Stevandić, and the Prime Minister, Radovan Višković, have been indicted on charges of “undermining the constitutional order of BiH”. Mitrović strongly disputes these indictments, calling them a direct attack on the constitutional structure of the Serbian entity of Bosnia.

‘The BiH Prosecutor’s Office and Court not only operate outside the constitutional framework, but have become instruments for the forced unification of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the dismantling of Republika Srpska and its legitimate institutions,’ Mitrović states.

The lawyer also pointed out that some Republika Srpska deputies were also summoned for questioning in Sarajevo, in violation of their parliamentary immunity guaranteed by both the Republika Srpska and BiH constitutions.

Accuses Schmidt and the EU: ‘An artificially created crisis’.

According to Mitrović, the ongoing political and constitutional crisis has been exacerbated by Christian Schmidt, the “unrecognised” High Representative, whom he calls a “German tourist” and “impostor supported by the EU bureaucracy”. The jurist accuses Schmidt of arbitrarily rewriting the Dayton Agreement and acting as a “colonial administrator”.

In addition, Mitrović criticised the introduction of new sanctions by the outgoing governments of Germany and Austria against the leadership of Republika Srpska, describing them as an “orchestrated diplomatic provocation” during the visit of ministers Anna Lirmann (Germany) and Beate Meinl-Reisinger (Austria) to Sarajevo.

“Political Sarajevo calls for war”

Mitrović finally emphasised the growing tension in the Bosnian capital, speaking of a “state of overexcitement and hysteria” on the part of Bosnian political forces, which he said were “calling for war”. He called the decision of the Republika Srpska authorities to declare German Minister Lirmann persona non grata “justified”.

His upcoming trip to Banja Luka, where he will meet with opposition forces SDS and PDP, was interpreted by Mitrović as a further attempt to weaken the institutions of Republika Srpska.

‘This is not just opposition to the government, but opposition to the very existence of Republika Srpska,’ he concluded.