Newsletters
The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina has opened an investigation against Milorad Dodik, the former president of Republika Srpska (RS), over his “hate” remarks targeting Muslims during an election rally.
Dodik, who continues to campaign ahead of the Nov. 23 early election in RS to choose his successor, delivered a speech in East Sarajevo calling on voters to support Sinisa Karan, minister of science, technology and higher education and former interior minister of RS. Karan is backed by Dodik’s party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).
Arguing that voters should back Karan so that “they can defeat the Muslims,” Dodik said: “This city (East Sarajevo) must not allow further Islamization. Forget the fairy tale that ‘we are the same people’; we are not even of the same faith. No one lies more or worse than a Turk (referring to Bosnian Muslims, or Bosniaks).
"We must stand against the great Muslim nationalism—the revival of political Islam, which has not yet completed its mission here," he added.
During the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, Serb nationalists such as Ratko Mladic often used the term “Turks” to refer to Bosnian Muslims, linking them to the Ottoman Empire’s legacy and portraying them as outsiders. The label was used to justify ethnic hatred and genocide by framing Bosniaks as foreign occupiers in their own land.
The Central Election Commission said it had launched an investigation into Dodik’s remarks under Bosnia’s electoral and anti-discrimination laws.
Meanwhile, Denis Becirovic, the Bosniak member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, issued a statement on the presidency’s website calling for legal action against Dodik. Becirovic said the former RS president was “deliberately trying to destroy the bridges of mutual respect among the peoples and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
1 min read
Dodik, long known for his separatist rhetoric, has repeatedly rejected the authority of the Office of the High Representative (OHR), created under the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war, and of High Representative Christian Schmidt.
Under Dodik’s leadership, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NSRS) voted in June 2023 not to publish Schmidt’s decrees in the entity’s Official Gazette. Schmidt annulled the move and declared it unconstitutional.
Dodik continued his defiance, declaring that “RS will secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Prosecutors later charged him with “failing to respect OHR decisions.”
He was sentenced to one year in prison and handed a six-year political ban in December 2023. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina later converted the prison sentence into a fine.
The Central Election Commission unanimously removed Dodik from the presidency of Republika Srpska following the political ban.
5 min read
