- Court sentences Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik
On February 26, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina found Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik guilty of “disrespect for decisions” of the High Representative of the international community in BiH, Christian Schmidt, and sentenced the BiH Serb leader to one year in prison. Dodik will also be barred from holding political and leadership positions, including that of President of Republika Srpska, for six years from the date the verdict becomes effective.
In 2023, the RS National Assembly passed a law stating that no decisions of the High Representative in BiH shall be published in the RS Official Gazette and that none of them shall be enforced. High Representative Christian Schmidt revoked the adopted law, but Milorad Dodik ignored his decision and proceeded with signing the decree putting the law into effect. The law was published in the Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska.
The acting director of the Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska, Miloš Lukić, who was tried in the case along with Dodik, was acquitted.
The verdict of the BiH court, issued on February 26, is a first-instance verdict that can be appealed within 15 days.
If Dodik is sentenced to one year in prison, he will no longer be able to run for any public office, as this is prohibited by the BiH Election Law (an official who has been finally sentenced to more than six months in prison cannot run for any public office. At the same time, if the verdict is upheld, Dodik will be able to avoid prison, as a sentence of up to one year can be replaced by a fine at the request of the convicted person.
Following the Dodik verdict, an emergency meeting of the National Security Council was held in Serbia. The meeting expressed major concern about the situation in Republika Srpska and noted that this was the biggest crisis since the end of the war.
The National Security Council
– condemned the verdict against Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik as undemocratic and illegal,
– called for restraint,
– called for respect for the Dayton Agreement, recalling that the agreement led to the end of the war,
– expressed its rejection of foreign interference, which, in the opinion of the Council members, led to the current crisis, and
– called for unity among the Serbian people and all parties in Republika Srpska and Serbia.
After the National Security Council meeting, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić traveled to Banja Luka, where he addressed a rally of Dodik’s supporters and met with the RS leadership.
“Serbia will always be on the side of Republika Srpska,” Vučić stressed in his address to citizens. He added that it is important to remain calm and patient.
After meeting with Dodik, Vučić stressed that Serbia will always and at any time do everything possible to help preserve peace, and his message is the need for conversation and dialogue.
Dodik, for his part, reaffirmed that Republika Srpska is committed to preserving peace and that he does not support any actions directed against Bosniaks and Croats.
“We do not have a war plan, and we are not plotting anything. … I am ready to talk to representatives of the Croatian and Muslim people,” Dodik said at a press conference in Banja Luka after meeting with the Serbian president.
Dodik also stressed that he insists on respecting the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on implementing the Dayton Agreement.
Previously, Serbian politicians in BiH have repeatedly stressed that modern Bosnia and Herzegovina is much more centralized than the Dayton deal and the Constitution of BiH provide for, and this should be reviewed.
- Serbia’s “erroneous” vote at UN
On February 24, the UN adopted several documents on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The General Assembly voted in favor of two resolutions – the Ukrainian one, co-sponsored by more than 50 countries, including EU members, and the American one – with substantial European amendments, which the United States itself abstained from backing. The Security Council voted in favor of the American version without amendments.
The resolution advancing a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine, put forward by Ukraine and a number of European countries, states that the General Assembly reaffirms its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and emphasizes “that no territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognized as legal”.
The document, among other things, calls for an early cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution of the war against Ukraine, “reiterates the urgent need to end the war this year” and achieve peace in Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter, recalls its “demand that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders,” and emphasizes the need to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law committed on the territory of Ukraine.
A total of 93 countries voted in favor, 18 against, and 65 abstained.
Of the countries in the region, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro supported the resolution. North Macedonia abstained.
After the vote at the UN, President Aleksandar Vučić said that the Serbian delegation had mistakenly supported the resolution proposed by Ukraine and a number of European countries.
“I believe that Serbia made a mistake today. I apologize to the citizens of Serbia for this, and I myself am to blame for this, because I am probably tired and busy and cannot do everything,” Vučić told the Ćirilica program on the Happy TV channel.
He stressed that, in his opinion, Serbia should have abstained, as it did during the vote for the “American” resolution.
The Kremlin has accepted the apology of the Serbian president for Serbia’s support for the “anti-Russian resolution” on Ukraine at the UN, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “Of course, we heard it, of course, we accepted it. Of course, technical errors happen, and of course, we are very impressed by such a quick reaction from the head of state,” Peskov told reporters.
Serbian experts commenting on the situation surrounding the UN vote noted that Vučić’s reaction can be explained by a call from Moscow, during which he was told that he was acting not only against the Kremlin, but also against the White House. Now, in their opinion, Belgrade is trying to sit not on two, but on three chairs – European, Russian and American.
- North Macedonia co-sponsors US draft resolution at UN
The UN General Assembly resolution “Path to Peace”, proposed by the U.S. with co-sponsors on the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine, became an alternative to the resolution put forward by Ukraine and a number of European nations.
North Macedonia was a co-sponsor of the resolution proposed by the US, together with Georgia, Israel, and Hungary.
“We decided so,” North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Kristijan Mickoski said when asked by reporters why the country had taken such a step.
The document proposed by the U.S. delegation to the UN contained four general points: mourning the tragic loss of life throughout the “Russian Federation-Ukraine conflict”; reiterating that the principal purpose of the UN is to maintain international peace and security and to peacefully settle disputes and imploring a swift end to the conflict, urging a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.
The delegates added three amendments.
First, they replaced the wording “Russian Federation-Ukraine conflict” with “full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.”
Second, they added a point in which the countries reaffirm their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters.
Third, the wording about a lasting peace between Ukraine and the Russian Federation was replaced with “a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of sovereign equality and territorial integrity of States.”
The version of the American resolution with these three amendments was supported by 93 countries, eight countries voted “against”, and 73 abstained.
The US abstained from voting for its own resolution in its amended form.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro supported the amended version of the American resolution. Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia abstained.
The U.S. proposed its draft resolution without changes for consideration by the UN Security Council. The Security Council, in particular, due to the Russian veto, did not approve the European amendments – the same ones that were voted on when considering the American resolution in the General Assembly, and adopted the initial version of the resolution. Ten countries voted “for” — the USA, Russia, China, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Somalia, Pakistan, Panama, Algeria; no members of the Security Council voted against; and five members abstained – the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Greece, Slovenia.
After it became known that North Macedonia co-sponsored the US resolution on Ukraine, the question of alignment of North Macedonia’s foreign policy with that of the EU arose.
Prime Minister Mickoski assured that no one should have any dilemma regarding the coordination of North Macedonia’s foreign and defense policy with the European Union. He emphasized that in the case of the American resolution at the UN, the country supported a strategic partner, the U.S.. In addition, the other resolution, according to him, was not an EU resolution, because Hungary, which is an EU member state, was also a co-author of the U.S. draft, “therefore, there can be no question of an aligned EU foreign policy.” “We aligned our foreign and defense policy with the European Union, but in this case it was not the case,” Mickoski emphasized.
It can now be stated that North Macedonia is a key U.S. ally in the region. As is known, Prime Minister Mickoski was the only head of government of the Western Balkan countries to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year.
In late February, Prime Minister Kristian Mickoski visited the U.S. again, where he spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington DC.
- Serbian police raid NGOs over “USAID case”
The Special Anti-Corruption Unit of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has launched a case into the misuse and abuse of funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) following allegations by senior U.S. officials of possible financial fraud within USAID programs. On February 25, Serbian police, acting on the instructions of the prosecutor’s office, conducted searches in the offices of four organizations: the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), Civic Initiatives, the Center for Practical Policy, and the Trag Foundation.
The raids took place against the backdrop of mass student protests in Serbia sparked by the tragedy at the Novi Sad train station. The Serbian leadership, including President Aleksandar Vučić, has repeatedly expressed distrust of Western funding of the public sector, arguing that some programs, in particular USAID, contribute to the destabilization and are aimed at organizing a “color revolution.”
The non-governmental sector sees the searches of NGO offices as attempts to exert pressure on civil society and combat dissent.
Amnesty International has referred to the case as the “Trump effect.” The attack on the NGOs is a blatant act of intimidation, the latest in a persistent campaign by the Serbian authorities to silence critical voices, Amnesty International wrote on X.
At the same time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stressed that this was only about collecting data on financial abuses by certain institutions and organizations, and that Serbia was fully committed to the rule of law and, accordingly, would continue to effectively fight corruption and crime on its territory. He stated this during a phone call with the UK’s special envoy for the Western Balkans, Stuart Peach.
- Albania joins British training program for Ukrainian military
Albania became the thirteenth country to participate in the Interflex military training program for Ukraine, along with Romania, Kosovo, as well as the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Lithuania.
Operation Interflex is a UK-led multinational training program designed for training Ukrainian army recruits.
Albania is currently among the 10 largest global donors to Ukraine in per capita terms. According to official sources, Albania has been supplying Ukraine with ammunition, weapons, and military vehicles.
Before joining the Interflex mission, Albania had been training Ukrainian military personnel on its territory.
