In a candid, wide-ranging interview with “The Pavlovic Today,” Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik alleged that “Biden allies” are orchestrating his removal before he can communicate directly with Donald Trump, whom he praises as “the savior of our civilization.”
The unprecedented two-hour discussion, published early Sunday, marked Dodik’s most unfiltered response since Bosnia’s Central Election Commission moved to strip him of office according to the report.
Dodik, undeterred, called the decision to strip him of his mandate “a calculated attempt … to stop me from speaking to Trump.”
He repeatedly denounced Christian Schmidt, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s foreign-appointed high representative, as illegitimate and accused him of wielding undue power under the so-called “Bonn Powers” — mechanisms adopted in 1997 post-Dayton that allow the high representative to override domestic institutions.
He insisted such powers have long operated outside democratic norms, arguing they remain largely unchallenged three decades after the Dayton Agreement, which ended the 1990s conflict and established Bosnia’s complex governance system.
Dodik portrayed himself as the target of political persecution, pointing to international sanctions against him and his family — measures he claimed have blocked their access to banking and punished his relatives simply for their association.
Since February 2025, Dodik has been at the center of Bosnia’s gravest political crisis since the end of the war.
A state court sentenced him to one year in prison and imposed a six-year ban from political activity for violating decisions by the Office of the High Representative.
The appeals court upheld this ruling in early August, prompting Bosnia’s Central Election Commission to officially remove Dodik from office.
Nonetheless, the country’s authorities denounced the verdict as unconstitutional and politically motivated, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán voiced support for Dodik.
In a parallel flashpoint, peace envoy Schmidt enacted a financial ruling to unlock Bosnia’s 2025 budget: ordering repayment of a disputed €60 million state debt from road toll revenues.
Dodik and other Serb leaders called the move a breach of Bosnia’s decentralization model.
Financially and politically, Bosnia remains under strain.
Despite its aspirations for EU accession, issues such as institutional paralysis, entrenched ethnic divisions, corruption, economic stagnation, and demographic decline continue to plague the country.
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