Budapest, 28 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) – Bosnian Serb lawmakers on Thursday passed laws to detach Republika Srpska, the Serb-dominated region of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), from the country's judicial system.

The ruling nationalist majority approved the measures in the administrative capital, Banja Luka, with 49 votes in favour and three against, while most opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote, according to regional broadcaster RTRS.

Legal experts argue that the laws are unconstitutional and could push Bosnia-Herzegovina into a serious political crisis.

Since the end of the Bosnian war in 1995, Bosnia-Herzegovina has been divided into semi-autonomous units, the Bosnian-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska.

Under the new measures, state institutions — including courts, the public prosecutor's office, the Supreme Judicial Council, and the federal police agency SIPA — would lose authority in Republika Srpska.

Milorad Dodik, the right-wing nationalist president of the Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, who is closely aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbia's leadership, has long advocated for Republika Srpska's secession from Bosnia.

On Wednesday, a court in Sarajevo sentenced him to a year in prison for disregarding rulings by the top international envoy.

Dodik was charged with defying the decisions of High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt, the international envoy responsible for overseeing the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war. The ruling is not yet final.

As a Serbian nationalist, Dodik has been trying for years to gradually separate the Republika Srpska from the larger Bosnian state, repeatedly violating Bosnian law and the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Experts stress that Republika Srpska's parliament lacks the legal authority to pass laws overriding Bosnia-Herzegovina's constitutional order.

MIA file photo