Budapest, 5 July 2025 (dpa/MIA) - A court in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday accepted a proposal by public prosecutors to drop an arrest warrant issued for Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik.

The court in Sarajevo said that there were no longer reasons to uphold the arrest warrant and Dodik, president of the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS), was granted a conditional release.

Dodik had reported to the Bosnian public prosecutor's office accompanied by his lawyer and agreed to be questioned there before heading to court, where prosecutors presented their proposal to drop the warrant.

Dodik was wanted for engaging in anti-constitutional activities aimed at undermining Bosnia-Herzegovina's constitutional order.

The court had issued the arrest warrant in March after Dodik had failed to respond to a summons from prosecutors. According to media reports, his appearance before the authorities on Friday was linked to guarantees that he would not be arrested.

Dodik subsequently told RS regional broadcaster RTRS that the conditions were that he would have to report to the police in Laktasi, his place of residence in the RS, every fortnight. He did not feel like a winner, he told the broadcaster, but was simply fed up with the saga.

In a separate case, Dodik in February was sentenced to one year in prison for 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 Bosnian war in 1995. Dodik's lawyers have lodged an appeal and the matter is not concluded yet.

Dodik, a long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has for years been pushing for the secession of the RS from the Bosnian state.

Bosnia-Herzegovina, a former Yugoslav republic, was re-established as a state under the Dayton Peace Agreement following the 1992-1995 war.

Since then, two parts of the country, the RS and the Bosnian-Croat Federation (FBiH), have enjoyed extensive autonomy.

MIA file photo