Bosnia’s Serb Regional Parliament ordered its representatives on Wednesday to boycott votes in joint state bodies to hinder the reforms needed for EU integration. The order was made in an emergency session to discuss the response to the ongoing trial of the president of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, for refusing to annul a law that undermined a constitutional court’s power.

The High Representative called out in the press release that the lawmakers’ attempts to politicize a court case undermine the constitutional order of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and are “deeply troubling.” He continued, “All in Bosnia and Herzegovina must understand that no individual stands above the law. Everyone, regardless of their name or position, has the right to a fair trial but also the obligation to comply with court decisions. This is the essence of the rule of law.” 

The EU delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH published a joint statement, along with embassies of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy, condemning the regional parliament’s acts as “a serious threat to the country’s constitutional order.”

The statement called out that such a threat is against the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) which was made to end forty-year-long ethnic wars in the 1990s and split Bosnia into two autonomous regions: the Serb Republic and a Federation shared by Croats and Bosniaks. The statement further highlighted Annex 4, Article 3 of DPA which requires the parliamentary bodies of both regions to comply with the Constitution and BiH Constitutional Court Jurisprudence. It also stated that it directly undermines “the authority of state-level rule of law institutions and BiH’s Euro-Atlantic path.”

In the latest report to the Secretary-General of the UN, the High Representative has updated the progress of reforms for EU integration. The report said the government is still committed to the EU integration process despite the domestic political actors’ failure to adopt a Draft Reform Agenda that complies with the EU Growth Plan.

BiH first submitted its membership application in February 2016. The EU accession negotiations were formally opened in BiH in March 2024. The Office of the High Representative was established to oversee the implementation of the DPA and help BiH take full responsibility for its own affairs. The High Representative has the power to impose and amend laws and dismiss obstructive officials.