Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has formally removed Milorad Dodik from his post as president of the country’s Serb entity, Republika Srpska, following the confirmation of a one-year prison sentence handed down by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The ruling signals another escalation in Bosnia’s ongoing political crisis, exacerbating tensions between the Serb-majority entity and the central government in Sarajevo. It comes nearly three decades after the Dayton Peace Agreement ended the bloody civil war in the country and created the country’s complex power-sharing structure.

The CEC said in a statement on August 6 that it had “made a decision to terminate the mandate of Milorad Dodik, President of the Republika Srpska, elected in the 2022 General Elections from the list of the political entity Alliance of Independent Social Democrats – SNSD – Milorad Dodik”.

The decision, which can be appealed within two days, comes after a court upheld Dodik’s conviction for refusing to implement decisions made by the international High Representative for Bosnia & Herzegovina Christian Schmidt. Under Bosnia’s electoral law, any elected official sentenced to more than six months in prison is automatically stripped of their office.

The CEC said it would move to organise early elections to fill the vacancy once the decision enters into force.

Dodik, a long-time opponent of the international oversight mechanism, has dismissed the ruling as politically motivated and vowed to resist what he described as an attack on Republika Srpska’s constitutional rights.

In a statement posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Dodik said: “The mandate was given to me by the people, and therefore I will listen to them in the referendum about me and the function I perform, which will, based on the decision of the National Assembly, be held in the coming period.”

He accused Schmidt of lacking legitimacy and blamed Bosniak politicians for seeking to dismantle Republika Srpska. “They spent all their political credit on their last wish — to eliminate me … but Republika Srpska has united for a longer period,” he said.

Republika Srpska’s leadership swiftly rejected the CEC’s move. The Bosnian Serb government has said it does not recognise the court ruling, calling it unconstitutional.

The entity’s Prime Minister Radovan Višković accused the body of attempting to “nullify the democratic will of the people of Republika Srpska”.

“This decision is a continuation of the anti-Serb policy in BiH, which was initiated by the illegal High Representative through the Court of BiH, and the role of the final executor of this showdown was given to the Central Election Commission,” Višković said in a statement published on the government’s website. He added that the ruling undermined the principles of the Dayton Agreement and jeopardised the equality of Serbs across Bosnia.

Dodik was initially sentenced in February for signing legislation that directly contravened a decision by Schmidt, who has sweeping powers to enforce the Dayton Agreement and remove officials. The court ruled that Dodik’s actions were a deliberate challenge to Bosnia’s post-war constitutional order.

A central arrest warrant was issued in March after the Republika Srpska National Assembly passed legislation further limiting the powers of state judicial and law enforcement agencies within its territory. The court confirmed his conviction on August 1, sentencing him to one year in prison and banning him from holding political office for six years.

The case could push Bosnia into deeper political instability. Ethnic divisions remain entrenched in the country, where Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs share power under a fragile structure. Dodik’s removal could lead to further separatist moves from Republika Srpska and inflame nationalist sentiment.

Dodik, once viewed by Western diplomats as a reformist, has emerged as one of the region’s most vocal nationalists. He has forged closer ties with Moscow and repeatedly called for Republika Srpska’s secession from Bosnia to join neighbouring Serbia. His activities have drawn US sanctions and stalled Bosnia’s path toward European Union membership.

Bosnia, a candidate for EU membership, continues to struggle with the legacy of the 1992-95 war, in which around 100,000 people died and millions were displaced. The US-brokered Dayton Agreement established two largely autonomous entities – Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation – linked by a weak central government.

Under that structure, Bosnia has joint state institutions including a tripartite presidency and unified army, but political infighting and ethnic rivalries have paralysed governance for years.