Pettigrew: Milorad Dodik’s efforts to secede must be decisively blocked

It was a matter of great concern that the United States voted recently with the Russian Federation and with North Korea against a UN General Assembly Resolution that condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That vote, for all practical purposes, supported the Russian Federation’s geopolitical goals, including in the Balkans. The dramatic reversal of the United States’ voting position, its break from its European partners, and its failure to condemn Russia’s aggression in Ukraine contributed to anxieties in the face of the escalating threats and provocations emanating from Republika Srpska and the so-called Serbian World. Such concerns sounded an alarm for an acceleration of Bosnia’s path toward NATO and EU.

Additional concerns were raised when President Trump issued an executive order for sanctions against the International Criminal Court, sanctions which had the effect of undermining respect for the rule of law on a global scale. Such a display of contempt for the rule of law arguably emboldened Milorad Dodik, following his recent conviction, to manufacture laws rejecting all laws adopted on the basis of Christian Schmidt’s decisions, and all laws and decisions issued by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA).

The High Representative and the PIC immediately condemned such actions that undermined the constitutional and legal order of Bosnia. Notably, the new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized Mr. Dodik and encouraged “political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina to engage in constructive and responsible dialogue” But these condemnations rang hollow and had no real consequences. With the adoption of its seditious laws, the Assembly of Republika Srpska had effectively excluded itself from the rule of law of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In other words, it seems too late for constructive dialogue when Republika Srpska has all but seceded from Bosnia and Herzegovina, generating a constitutional crisis.

In a closed session of the UN Security Council, the United States representative reportedly condemned Dodik’s destabilizing actions but at the same time expressed support for the concept of three constituent peoples, essentially ignoring the ECHR judgments calling for democratic reforms in the Sejdić-Finci, Zornić and Kovačević cases. The support of the concept of constituent peoples panders to the ethnoterritorial claims of the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats and betrays citizens’ efforts for democratic reform.

Republika Srpska has consistently violated international norms regarding transitional justice, memorialization, and the rule of law with impunity. Genocide and other war crimes are denied and war criminals are glorified. The mural for Ratko Mladić in Kalinovik has not been removed, in spite of appeals to the OHR from survivors. Survivors have not been able to install memorial at Kravica warehouse, Pilica Cultural Center, Branjevo Farm or Petkovci Dam, all atrocity sites where the crimes committed have been judged to be part of the Srebrenica genocide. A team from the Srebrenica Memorial Center that was seeking to film inside the Pilica Cultural Center was denied access by the authorities of Republika Srpska in a blatant effort to suppress the truth. Following the anti-state laws passed recently in Republika Srpska the Srebrenica Memorial Center suspended operations out of security concerns.

No doubt Mr. Dodik continues to be emboldened to continue his provocative rhetoric and destabilizing actions with impunity due to the inaction of the Office of the High Representative and due to the support he has received from Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin’s news agency reported that Putin expressed his solidarity with Mr. Dodik in a recent telephone conversation with Serbia’s President Vučić. The current crisis is another result of the ongoing failure of the international community to take initiatives to support transitional justice, to install memorials, to prosecute genocide denial and the glorification of war criminals. Dodik has benefited from this culture of inaction that has made a mockery of the rule of law and human rights.

It is therefore imperative that Bosnia’s membership in the EU and NATO be accelerated. It is crucial moreover, that EUFOR troop strength be dramatically increased and strategically deployed in Bosnia to prevent a further escalation of the crisis. EUFOR must also be deployed to protect Bosniaks in Republika Srpska and to secure the Srebrenica Memorial Center so that its staff can continue their important work. The Memorial Center plays the leading role in the world for raising awareness about the truth of the Srebrenica Genocide and resisting denial through the development of educational resources, including survivor testimonies, curated exhibitions, conferences, studies, publications, and international outreach. Their work seeks to foster a culture of remembrance that will prevent a repetition of the atrocities. The Memorial Center’s mission to honor the memory of the victims must be defended.

Milorad Dodik’s efforts to secede must be decisively blocked. The US must also support the decisions that need to be taken by the High Representative in the area of transitional justice to allow for the installation of memorials at the atrocity sites where they have been forbidden until now, including at Pilica Cultural Center, where the atrocities were judged to be part of the Srebrenica Genocide. This is a matter of justice that is profoundly important as we approach the commemoration of the genocide in 2025. Finally, in all these ways, the US must contribute to peace and stability, to the restoration of respect for the rule of law, including the prosecution of genocide denial and the glorification of war criminals, and must publicly support democratic reforms and human rights outlined by ECHR judgment.

16 March 2025. KRUG 99. Sarajevo. “Republika Srpska and the Threat to Transitional Justice, the Rule of Law and Human Rights”. prof. dr. David Pettigrew, CSU Professor of Philosophy and Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Southern Connecticut State University, Member, Steering Committee Yale University Genocide Studies Program.

16 March 2025. KRUG 99. Sarajevo. “Republika Srpska and the Threat to Transitional Justice, the Rule of Law and Human Rights”. prof. dr. David Pettigrew, CSU Professor of Philosophy and Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Southern Connecticut State University, Member, Steering Committee Yale University Genocide Studies Program.