The President of Bosnia's Serb entity, Milorad Dodik, has been sentenced on August 1 to one year in prison and banned from holding political office for six years after being found guilty of refusing to implement decisions made by Bosnia's top international envoy, the High Representative.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina upheld a previous verdict delivered in February, confirming that Dodik had violated the law by signing a decree that contradicted a decision by High Representative Christian Schmidt. The move was deemed a deliberate challenge to Bosnia’s constitutional order and the authority of the post-war oversight mechanism.

The verdict, confirmed by a three-member judicial panel – marks an escalation in a long-running standoff between Dodik and Bosnia’s central institutions. It also deepens the country’s political crisis nearly three decades after the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement ended a bloody civil war.

Dodik, addressing the media after the ruling, dismissed the sentence as “purely political,” accusing Schmidt of targeting him for refusing to acknowledge his authority. “This is an attack on Republika Srpska,” he said. “The bottom line is that Christian Schmidt said that anyone who disrespects him will end up in prison.”

The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was established to oversee implementation of the Dayton Agreement, with sweeping powers to impose laws and remove officials. Schmidt, a German diplomat appointed in 2021, has not been confirmed by the UN Security Council – a point of contention repeatedly raised by Dodik and his allies.

Dodik has long opposed the OHR’s role, arguing that the post-war structure has shifted in favour of centralisation, undermining the autonomy of Republika Srpska (RS), the Serb-majority entity within Bosnia.

In response to the February ruling, the RS National Assembly passed laws further limiting the authority of state judicial and law enforcement agencies on its territory. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina later issued a central warrant for Dodik’s arrest in March, citing suspicions of an attack on the country’s constitutional order.

Serbian leaders reacted against the decision back in February. President Aleksandar Vucic has now convened an urgent meeting of Serbia’s National Security Council. Vucic, who has consistently backed Dodik, previously described the charges as politically motivated and warned that further international pressure on RS could provoke regional instability.

“The appeal verdict against Milorad Dodik is not just a political attack on the President of Republika Srpska – it is an attack on the Dayton Agreement and the institutional integrity of Republika Srpska,” said Milan Knezevic, a Serbian political leader from Montenegro, in comments to local daily Politika.

Critics of the ruling argue that it risks inflaming tensions in an already fragile country, where ethnic divisions remain entrenched. Others warn that continued defiance from Banja Luka, the de facto capital of RS, could push Bosnia closer to disintegration.

Dodik, once hailed by Western diplomats as a moderate voice during the post-war reconstruction, has transformed into one of the region’s most vocal nationalist leaders. His increasingly close ties to Moscow and calls for greater autonomy – or even secession – have fuelled fears that Bosnia could slide back into conflict.

Supporters of the High Representative and Bosnia’s central institutions claim that Dodik’s actions threaten the rule of law and the country’s constitutional framework. They insist the OHR remains a necessary stabilising force in a country still haunted by its wartime legacy.

Dodik, however, insists his defiance is in line with the original Dayton Agreement, which he says guaranteed RS a high degree of autonomy.

The verdict is expected to heighten already growing distrust between Bosnia’s ethnic communities – Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs – and raise further questions over the country’s future as a unified state under international oversight.