Latest news with #RepublikaSrpska
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on the Srebrernica anniversary: learning the lessons of history
The Bosnian town of Srebrenica is marking the terrible days 30 years ago when some 8,000 of its men and boys were massacred in adjoining woods and fields by compatriot Serbs. It was the first UN-recognised genocide in Europe since the Holocaust, carried out as politically- hobbled UN peacekeepers stood idly by, though it tipped the US into leading a forceful intervention that brought an end to the brutal war in which 100,000 died and the former Yugoslavia was torn apart. Three decades on , the fragile peace agreed then, the Dayton Accord, is more precarious than ever. It is a state made up of two bitterly hostile, devolved entities that nominally report to a central government: the federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for areas dominated by Bosnian Muslims and Croats, and Republika Srpska (RS), for areas dominated by Bosnian Serbs, including a beleaguered Srebrenica. An international peacekeeping contingent and an EU high representative struggle to keep the agreement on course. While Dayton may have provided an agreed peace framework in which violence ceased, like Northern Ireland's Belfast Agreement, it was premised on a form of mandatory power sharing and in Bosnia's case cantonisation of the state that preserved local ethnic fiefdoms, perpetuating the divisions between communities rather than breaking them down. While undoing the treaty constraints may appear a rational way towards normalisation, consent from the minority Serb community will not be forthcoming. Republika Srpska is led by autocratic Serb nationalist and Putin admirer, Milorad Dodik, who was sentenced in February to a six-year ban from politics and a year in prison for his defiance of the high representative. His aim is independence, though he denies it, and he is now planning a referendum on a draft new RS constitution whose provisions would be tantamount to secession. READ MORE Bosnia Herzegovina's disintegration would be a disastrous recipe for a resumption of violence. Standing up to Dodik is an imperative, but sending him to jail will not help.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
‘Facing the past is still our biggest problem': Bosnia divided and dysfunctional 30 years after Srebrenica genocide
Faces of the dead line the main road into Srebrenica, but they are not photographs of the 8,000 Muslim men and boys massacred by Serb forces in and around this town in eastern Bosnia 30 years ago. They are pictures of hundreds of Serbs allegedly killed by Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) troops in this area during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Placed on the approach to the vast Srebrenica burial ground ahead of Friday's commemoration events there, they are also part of Serb attempts to relativise or deny the genocide that have not diminished over time. The refusal of Serb officials to acknowledge the genocide is the most emotive of many obstacles to reconciliation in Bosnia, which still labours under a postwar political framework that paralyses decision-making and only entrenches ethnic divisions. 'Those pictures are of soldiers, veterans of the Bosnian Serb army, so the message is the same as always – it is still denial, and they are glorifying those people,' says Camil Durakovic, a Bosniak former mayor of Srebrenica who still lives in the town. READ MORE 'Now it's 30 years and I don't see progress. In fact, I see us going backwards ... This government is reversing anything good that was done since the war ended,' he adds. 'Facing the past is still our biggest problem.' Camil Durakovic, a Bosniak vice-president of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and a former mayor of Srebrenica. Photograph: Daniel McLaughlin Durakovic is referring to the government of Republika Srpska, the Serb-run region linked by a weak central government in Sarajevo to Bosnia's other 'entity', the Bosniak-Croat Federation. The federation is subdivided into 10 cantons, each with its own government and parliament. Bosnia also has an international high representative – with broad powers to issue edicts – who oversees implementation of the Dayton Accords, a 1995 peace deal that imposed this convoluted administration on the shattered former Yugoslav republic after fighting had killed about 100,000 of its people. Western capitals and a series of high representatives in Sarajevo have tried for three decades to make Bosnia more cohesive by strengthening state institutions, and by holding out the promise of eventual European Union membership if reforms succeed. Yet Republika Srpska resists attempts to transfer any of its powers to the state, and its long-time leader, Milorad Dodik, frequently threatens to seek secession for the region rather than allow its deeper integration in the Bosniak-majority country. Milorad Dodik, the long-time leader of Republika Srpska, frequently threatens to seek secession for the region. Photograph: Fehim Demir/EPA Alongside leaders of neighbouring Serbia and with support from Russia , Dodik and his allies in Republika Srpska deny that Serb forces committed genocide in Srebrenica, flying in the face of international court rulings and the convictions for genocide at a United Nations tribunal in The Hague of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, respectively the wartime political and military chiefs of the Bosnian Serbs. 'Serbs in Srebrenica did not commit genocide,' Dodik said on Saturday, while describing the July 1995 massacre as a 'terrible crime' but also calling himself a 'comrade' of Mladic and Karadzic. [ Ratko Mladic: 'Terminally ill' Bosnian Serb general serving life for genocide seeks release Opens in new window ] He was attending an event in the town of Bratunac, 10km from Srebrenica, to honour thousands of Serb civilians and soldiers that locals say were killed by Bosniak forces in the area during the war. Although Bosniaks and Croats were convicted at The Hague, many Serbs believe their crimes have never been adequately punished and are overlooked or diminished by the Bosnian state and the West. 'They know everything, just as we do ... All we can conclude is that Sarajevo is defending the crime committed here in Bratunac,' said Dodik. 'They tried to portray Serbs as criminals and other nations as victims. I no longer trust them at all,' he added, noting the absence of western diplomats at the commemoration. 'They are not here today – even if they were, I wouldn't know what to say to them. I am proud of the Russian ambassador, who is always with us.' The Bosnian flag flies over the graves of many of the more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys massacred by Serb forces in and around Srebrenica in July 1995. The cemetery at Potocari outside Srebrenica will host a 30-year commemoration event on Friday. Photograph: Daniel McLaughlin Before Russia launched armed aggression against Ukraine in 2014, the countries of former Yugoslavia were the main European arena for geopolitical rivalry between Moscow and the West. Russian volunteers fought for the Bosnian Serbs during the war, and the Kremlin later opposed Kosovo's independence from Serbia and blocked a 2015 draft resolution in the United Nations to recognise the Srebrenica massacre as genocide. Dodik is a frequent visitor to Russia, and has continued to travel there since a Bosnian state court gave him a one-year jail term in February and banned him from politics for six years for defying decisions from the high representative. A verdict on his appeal against the conviction is expected in the coming weeks. Already under US sanctions for alleged corruption and undermining Bosnian statehood, Dodik rejected the authority of the court and the high representative, and his allies in the Republika Srpska parliament barred state police and judicial authorities from acting on the region's territory. Dodik (66) has found support from the Kremlin's other allies in the region – Serbia and Hungary. Budapest sent up to 300 members of a police special forces unit to Republika Srpska for unannounced 'training' that coincided with the February court verdict, in what could have been a show of strength or preparations to protect him from arrest. Last week, Republika Srpska deputies voted to create an auxiliary police force. Dodik's allies say the reserves will help the region cope with emergencies, but critics say it is another step towards creating a police state dedicated to protecting the region's president. Christian Schmidt, a veteran German politician who is now international high representative for Bosnia in Sarajevo. Photograph: Daniel McLaughlin 'I wouldn't exclude that some are thinking about him as a kind of politically destructive player, on strings. I hope he is wise enough [to see that] normally this is not healthy for those playing this game. These are not reliable partners,' Christian Schmidt, Bosnia's current high representative, says about Moscow's closeness to Dodik. 'I see that there is a challenge from Russia, perhaps coming to use the western Balkans as a second-level playing field, maybe somehow to draw attention from Ukraine,' he warns, while insisting that the 'situation is manageable.' Balkans expert Jasmin Mujanovic describes Dodik as an 'eager, pliant proxy of Russia' who 'remains the most significant threat to peace and security' in Bosnia and the region. 'But his political power has also weakened significantly in recent years,' says Mujanovic, a non-resident senior fellow at the Washington-based New Lines Institute. 'He is not strong enough to dismantle the state, but the relevant authorities in Sarajevo also appear to lack the courage to use the full weight of the legal-security apparatus to bring him to heel.' After defying the national authorities for months, Dodik made a surprise appearance for questioning at the prosecutor's office in Sarajevo last Friday. A court then lifted an arrest warrant and ordered him to report regularly to the state authorities. 'The deal he made with the public prosecutor is obviously a slap on the wrist and the [Bosnian] public is, rightfully, aghast,' Mujanovic says. 'Yet it also shows he was not able to simply ignore the state authorities, nor could he secure his desired secession from the state.' A billboard in Serb-run Srebrenica announcing a commemoration event for Serbs killed by Bosniaks during the 1992-5 Bosnian war. The gathering last Saturday was called 'Thirty-three years of crimes without punishment.' Photograph: Daniel McLaughlin Durakovic, now a vice-president in Republika Srpska, also believes Dodik is running out of options and can no longer be certain of support from Serbia, where autocratic president Aleksandar Vucic is under pressure from massive student-led street protests. He thinks the crunch will come if Dodik loses the appeal against his conviction and is banned from holding office in Bosnia. 'In a month we'll have a different situation,' Durakovic says. 'Then we'll see what direction we'll go. Let's hope it's positive.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bosnia ends warrant for Bosnian Serb leader after questioning
Bosnian authorities on Friday dropped an arrest warrant against Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik after he agreed to be questioned over accusations of making secessionist moves in the divided Balkan nation. After months of ignoring calls to speak with authorities, Dodik voluntarily reported to the public prosecutor's office, accompanied by his lawyer, "to be questioned as a suspect in the investigation", the prosecutor's office and Bosnian State Court said in a statement. The Republika Srpska (RS) president had been wanted since March 18 by authorities who issued an arrest warrant after he refused to show up for questioning -- setting of a crisis that many observers considered the worst since Bosnia's 1992-95 war. Despite the warrant, Dodik traveled abroad accompanied by Republika Srpska police, visiting neighboring Serbia, Russia and Hungary. Bosnia's request to Interpol to issue international warrant was refused by the international police agency. Since the end of its war, Bosnia has been split into the Serb Republika Srpska and a Muslim-Croat Federation. Each has its own government and parliament, with only weak central institutions binding the country of 3.5 million people together. - Conditional release - "The suspect Milorad Dodik voluntarily presented himself on July 4 before the prosecutor's office of Bosnia-Herzegovina, accompanied by his lawyer, to be questioned as a suspect in the investigation,' said the joint statement. The court accepted the prosecutors' proposal to "terminate" the warrant, and Dodik was given conditional release, it said. According to the statement, the court ordered Dodik to regularly report to the authorities, and a new detention decision will be issued if he does not comply. "It's an important thing for me, but it's also important in relation to those who were ill-intentioned and wanted destabilization, an escalation of problems in Bosnia through this case," Dodik told a public TV channel. "I don't feel triumphalist. I'm tired of it all," he added. The arrest warrant was issued after Dodik, 66, banned the central police and judiciary -- a move deemed secessionist by prosecutors. That came after he was sentenced in February to one year in prison and banned from holding political office for six years for failing to comply with decisions of the international high representative who oversees the 1995 peace accord that ended the Bosnian war. A decision on Dodik's appeal is expected soon. Dodik rejected the trial as "political" and urged the Republika Srpska parliament to ban the federal police and judiciary from operating in the Serb statelet. The State Prosecutor's Office deemed the activities secessionist and opened an investigation that includes the entity's prime minister Radovan Viskovic and parliament president Nenad Stevandic. Bosnia's Constitutional court in May annulled the secessionists laws adopted by Republika Srpska which plunged Bosnia into a crisis described by some observers as the worst since the war. dd/tw
France 24
04-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Bosnia ends warrant for Bosnian Serb leader after questioning
After months of ignoring calls to speak with authorities, Dodik voluntarily reported to the public prosecutor's office, accompanied by his lawyer, "to be questioned as a suspect in the investigation", the prosecutor's office and Bosnian State Court said in a statement. The Republika Srpska (RS) president had been wanted since March 18 by authorities who issued an arrest warrant after he refused to show up for questioning -- setting of a crisis that many observers considered the worst since Bosnia's 1992-95 war. Despite the warrant, Dodik traveled abroad accompanied by Republika Srpska police, visiting neighboring Serbia, Russia and Hungary. Bosnia's request to Interpol to issue international warrant was refused by the international police agency. Since the end of its war, Bosnia has been split into the Serb Republika Srpska and a Muslim-Croat Federation. Each has its own government and parliament, with only weak central institutions binding the country of 3.5 million people together. Conditional release "The suspect Milorad Dodik voluntarily presented himself on July 4 before the prosecutor's office of Bosnia-Herzegovina, accompanied by his lawyer, to be questioned as a suspect in the investigation,' said the joint statement. The court accepted the prosecutors' proposal to "terminate" the warrant, and Dodik was given conditional release, it said. According to the statement, the court ordered Dodik to regularly report to the authorities, and a new detention decision will be issued if he does not comply. "It's an important thing for me, but it's also important in relation to those who were ill-intentioned and wanted destabilization, an escalation of problems in Bosnia through this case," Dodik told a public TV channel. "I don't feel triumphalist. I'm tired of it all," he added. The arrest warrant was issued after Dodik, 66, banned the central police and judiciary -- a move deemed secessionist by prosecutors. That came after he was sentenced in February to one year in prison and banned from holding political office for six years for failing to comply with decisions of the international high representative who oversees the 1995 peace accord that ended the Bosnian war. A decision on Dodik's appeal is expected soon. Dodik rejected the trial as "political" and urged the Republika Srpska parliament to ban the federal police and judiciary from operating in the Serb statelet. The State Prosecutor's Office deemed the activities secessionist and opened an investigation that includes the entity's prime minister Radovan Viskovic and parliament president Nenad Stevandic. Bosnia's Constitutional court in May annulled the secessionists laws adopted by Republika Srpska which plunged Bosnia into a crisis described by some observers as the worst since the war. © 2025 AFP
Russia Today
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia and Republika Srpska sign education partnership deal
Russia and Republika Srpska, an autonomous region within Bosnia and Herzegovina, have signed a memorandum to expand cooperation in education. The ceremony took place on the sidelines of the Third International Forum of Ministers of Education, 'Shaping the Future', in the Russian city of Kazan. The deal was signed by Russian Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov and Republika Srpska's minister of education and culture, Zeljka Stojicic, on Wednesday. Under the agreement, both parties committed to closer cooperation in general education, vocational training, and further vocational education. They will also exchange information on international conferences, seminars, and education-related events hosted in Russia and Republika Srpska. The sides also discussed deepening bilateral ties at the forum. 'I would like to express my gratitude to the Srpska side for their active cooperation. We have already opened five Russian language open education centers in Republika Srpska. Around 500 citizens have studied in them over two years,' Kravtsov said. Stojicic noted that the two sides have made notable progress in expanding Russian language instruction in Republika Srpska. 'We have made great progress in Russian language studies. The number of schools where the Russian language is studied has increased,' she stated, noting that Russia's Tula University was helpful with this endeavor. According to Kravtsov, the university has been working with Republika Srpska's education sector, and signed agreements with the region's specialized ministries in 2023. A key part of the agreement signed by the parties includes promoting Russian language studies in Republika Srpska through competitions, Olympiads, and cultural events, as well as encouraging the use of electronic education resources. The two also pledged to support student talent development, organize children's recreation programs, and hold reciprocal fairs, seminars, and exhibitions. This year's 'Shaping the Future' forum – held June 11 to 12 – brought together delegations from 50 states, including education ministers and officials from the UAE, Belarus, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Myanmar, Laos, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and Zimbabwe. The agenda focused on global challenges in education, including digital transformation, AI, online learning, inclusion, and the evolving role of teachers.
