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The US State Department said it opposes any actions by local leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina that would undermine the security and stability of the state.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced the president of the Republika Srpska entity, Milorad Dodik, to one year in prison and a six-year ban from holding the office of president.
"The United States has invested for decades in a stable Bosnia and Herzegovina. We strongly oppose any actions by local leaders that would undermine security and stability. We support the Dayton Agreement and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce wrote on X.
Dodik has been blacklisted twice by the US for his activities against the Dayton Peace Agreement reached in 1995.
On February 26, the Court in Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Dodik for disrespecting the decisions of the High Representative of the international community, Christian Schmidt.
Meanwhile, the second defendant in this case, the acting director of the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, Miloš Lukić, was acquitted of the charges.
This is a first-instance decision, against which Dodik can appeal.
Dodik is facing trial on charges that he signed presidential decrees, through which he declared two unconstitutional laws of Republika Srpska, which had previously been repealed by the High Representative, valid.
These are the laws on the non-implementation of decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the non-implementation of decisions of the High Representative in the territory of Republika Srpska.
The Bosnian Criminal Code provides for a sentence of six months to five years in prison for disobeying the decisions of the High Representative, as well as the possibility of dismissing an individual from office and banning them from political activity.
After the sentencing, Dodik told his supporters gathered in front of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska that "there is no reason for concern."
He also said that the Assembly of the Serbian entity will take several decisions, including rejecting the process in the Bosnian Court and “stopping the work of the Prosecutor’s Office on the territory of Republika Srpska.”
"The second decision is to ban the implementation of decisions of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the territory of Republika Srpska," Dodik said, also warning that a law will be adopted that will ban the activities of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and the formation of these institutions at the entity level.
Leaders in Serbia have spoken out against Dodik's sentencing, calling it an "attack on Serbs."
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has described the Bosnian Court's decision as "shameful, illegal and undemocratic", which he says aims to "destroy Republika Srpska and undermine the position of the Serbian people".
Meanwhile, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic declared after a meeting of the Serbian National Security Council that this body, upon Vucic's proposal, has adopted seven conclusions, which, among other things, condemn the court's decision, which is described as "undemocratic and illegal" and calls for respect for the Directon Agreement and the prevention of "further destruction of the system" created by this document.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin, also reacted to the sentence against Dodik, saying that this decision is "an attack on Serbs and Serbia." /REL
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