Christian Schmidt

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has threatened that Republika Srpska will secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina if the Bosnian judiciary bans him from political activities.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic received Christian Schmidt in Belgrade on Thursday to discuss current developments and EU integration and development processes in the region.

Tensions surged in Bosnia and Herzegovina as US F-16 aircraft flew over the nation, displaying solidarity mere hours before the disputed "holiday" in Republika Srpska, a region predominantly inhabited by ethnic Serbs, branded unconstitutional by Sarajevo.

BRUSSELS - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will be visiting the Western Balkans from November 19 through 22 and travel to Belgrade on Tuesday, November 21, NATO announced on Friday.

On Sunday, Stoltenberg will go to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he will have a working dinner with the members of the country's Presidency.

Bosnian Republika Srpska's President, Milorad Dodik, sparked controversy after expressing his aspiration to become the president of an independent country by 2030 during an interview with Bosnia's TV3.

The National Assembly in the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska Entity adopted amendments to the Law on Publishing Laws and Other Regulations on Wednesday evening to stop publishing decisions by the Office of the High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the entity's Official Gazette, which would render them invalid.

The High Representative to Bosnia has used his substantial "Bonn powers" to ensure government formation in the country's Federation entity, imposing new changes to its constitution on Thursday. This was Christian Schmidt's second intervention to the constitution in less than seven months.

High Representative Christian Schmidt, who is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the peace deal that ended the Bosnian war, warned on Friday that he could intervene using his sweeping powers if politicians in the Federation entity do not find a way to implement election results and form a government in the entity.

Three war victims' associations on Monday urged Bosnia and Herzegovina's top international official, High Representative Christian Schmidt, to intervene to remove Lidija Bradara as president of the Bosniak and Croat-dominated Federation entity over her links to a war criminal who she called a "friend", N1 TV reported.

The formation of a government in the Bosniak and Croat-dominated Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the bigger of Bosnia's two entities, remains on hold since the October 2022 election, as the governing coalition that promised its quick formation falls apart.