The trial against President Milorad Dodik was conducted unconstitutionally, which made it expected that the Constitutional Court of BiH would reject the appeal filed by his defense team against the verdict of the Court of BiH, said Željka Cvijanović, the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Those who unconstitutionally initiated and conducted the proceedings against Dodik had to bring the process to an end in the same unconstitutional way. The appeal was an excellent opportunity for the judiciary to step away from the deviation and political intent we have witnessed over the past two and a half years and to act in accordance with the Constitution,” Cvijanović said in Srna’s podcast.
She noted that the case could now proceed before the European Court of Human Rights and expressed hope that the procedure would begin soon.
According to Cvijanović, interventionism in BiH has produced a judicial process that would be neither expected nor acceptable anywhere in the civilized world.
“This shows how one unconstitutional act triggers a chain of other negative consequences — ultimately trampling on the electoral will of the voters and the democratic process of electing the president. Then, laws are adopted in violation of the Constitution, which represents foreign interventionism, leading to a judiciary that prosecutes the representative of Republika Srpska, one of the two entities in BiH,” Cvijanović stated.
She added that for years there has been a visible “Sarajevo hysteria,” with constant attempts to abuse every available mechanism to target Serbs, Republika Srpska, and its democratically elected representatives.
Cvijanović believes that BiH is in a state of chronic crisis, with each new crisis linked to foreign intervention.
“These crises have most often been caused by individuals serving as high representatives, but also by the decisions of the Constitutional Court, which has failed to protect the Constitution. Many observers note that everything in BiH is politicized and contaminated by politics — including matters that should have remained impartial. All of this has unfolded amid massive media pressure,” she said.
Cvijanović assessed that these developments have led to a decline in public trust in the judiciary.
Institutional stability of Republika Srpska bothers representatives from the Federation of BiH
Cvijanović stated that this situation now opens space for broader discussions — an opportunity for everyone in BiH to “recover” from the failures of the past 30 years and to create a new environment for dialogue and cooperation based on the Constitution.
“I support erasing the mistakes of the past and learning from them, so that we can look ahead and decide what must be done next. Otherwise, there is no way forward,” Cvijanović emphasized.
She pointed out that the crisis in BiH is far from over and that what we are witnessing is merely the continuation of a wider political and institutional process.
Cvijanović stressed that it is very important that representatives of Republika Srpska have managed to internationalize the situation in BiH and draw attention to the need for fair and lawful solutions.
“Unfortunately, all the negative energy from the Federation of BiH has been directed toward Republika Srpska. Political leaders from the Bosniak bloc would cease to exist politically if there were no Dodik and no Republika Srpska — they have no other topic. They don’t talk about energy, infrastructure projects, pensions, or salaries. What about education, healthcare, and other neglected sectors in the Federation? It’s because they didn’t get the kind of state someone promised them,” she said.
Cvijanović added that the abuse of joint BiH institutions is increasingly visible and that many initiatives important for Republika Srpska are being blocked.
“Representatives from the Federation are deeply disturbed by the institutional stability of Republika Srpska. Because of that stability and functionality, Srpska is clearly in a stronger position within BiH,” Cvijanović noted.
Speaking about the state budget of BiH institutions for this year, she said that the BiH Presidency is expected to vote on the draft budget proposed by the Council of Ministers next week.
“This should be the final attempt to adopt the BiH institutions’ budget for this year. Previous proposals from the other two Presidency members had flaws that would have made implementation impossible. The current version is better — it aims to repair the damage done to employees in BiH institutions. I believe there will be enough reason and goodwill for the budget to be adopted,” Cvijanović concluded.
Source: RTRS
