Bosnia is on the brink of collapse following the sentencing of Milorad Dodik for defying the United Nations High Representative.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the Western Balkans, is bordered by Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro. It is home to three main ethnic groups: Bosniak Muslims, Catholic Croats, and Orthodox Serbs.
The breakup of Yugoslavia and the war that followed left the country in ruins, with thousands of victims and deep ethnic and religious divisions.
The war, which began in 1992, ended with the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which divided the country into two federal entities: the Republic of Srpska, primarily inhabited by Orthodox Serbs, and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, shared by Bosniak Muslims and Catholic Croats.
The Dayton Peace Agreement, however, failed to provide a long-term solution for Bosnia. As Tamás Orbán of the European Conservative aptly points out, “Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a country; it’s a ceasefire between three nations pretending to be one, and it may soon come to an end.”
A few weeks ago, a court found Republic of Srpska President Milorad Dodik guilty of defying the authority of Bosnia’s UN High Representative, Christian Schmidt. He was sentenced to one year in prison and barred from holding public office for six years.
The court’s ruling has plunged the country into a constitutional and political crisis unlike any seen since the end of the war.
Hellbound and Down 