Baroness Helich for Jerusalem Post: Dodik contributed to escalation, BiH needs allies' support

(Patria) - Baroness Arminka Helich, a member of the House of Lords in the Parliament of Great Britain, sharply criticized narratives in an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post that legal proceedings against the president of the Bosnian Serb entity RS, Milorad Dodik, are presented as political persecution.

She emphasizes that this is a serious constitutional crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina caused precisely by Dodik's systematic violation of the rule of law and attempts to undermine state institutions.

Helich initially referred to a recently published article in this media outlet regarding the presence of the President of RS at a conference on antisemitism in Jerusalem and our country's request for his arrest through Interpol.

Helich pointed out that the article created a narrative that is both misleading and incomplete.

BiH uses existing legal institutions as weapons for political goals - it was stated in the article published in April on The Jerusalem Post.

Helich states that at the center of this case is not political persecution, but a serious legal and constitutional crisis created by Dodik.

In February, the BiH state court convicted him for refusing to implement the final and binding decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Office of the High Representative (OHR). He was sentenced to one year in prison and banned from holding public office for six years. The charges were not related to speech or diplomacy, but to repeated, intentional violations of the rule of law and attempts to place himself and the Bosnian Serb entity RS above the state constitution - writes The Jerusalem Post.

They also referred to the controversial laws that Dodik recently passed, which were suspended by the BiH Constitutional Court. As they state, instead of addressing the legal channels, Dodik contributed to the escalation.

The article states that Dodik said that BiH no longer exists, and that he introduced emergency legislation in RS prohibiting state-level police, courts, and prosecutors from acting on its territory.

Draft laws on the revival of the "army of RS" followed, which directly contradicted the peace agreement reached in Dayton in 1995. Faced with this, Bosnian institutions acted. A national warrant was issued. When Dodik left the country and acted in defiance of the court, first going to Serbia and then to Israel, the State Court requested a red notice from Interpol. The timing of the request - during the conference in Jerusalem - was not a political maneuver, but a procedural response to his flight - they point out.

They added that Interpol's refusal of this warrant emphasizes "the limitations of international police action in politically sensitive contexts".

They further write that the suggestion that Sarajevo acted to disrupt the conference on antisemitism is not only inaccurate - it is offensive.

Antisemitism is a growing and serious threat globally. Serious efforts to confront it must be supported, and using such a principle to shield oneself from legitimate legal proceedings, especially in light of Bosnia's post-genocide constitutional order, is abhorrent.

They state that it is important to challenge the implicit idea that BiH has a history of hostility towards Jews.

Sarajevo was once home to one of the most integrated Jewish communities in the Balkans. During the Holocaust, Bosnian Jews primarily suffered from the Ustasha regime in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). This was a fascist state established during World War II, not a product of Bosnian institutions. Many local citizens, especially Muslims, risked their lives to protect their Jewish neighbors - the text adds.

They also underlined that the previously published article incorrectly characterizes the High Representative in BiH, Christian Schmidt, as an unelected "proconsul".

They state that these powers have always been used sparingly. The current High Representative has not imposed foreign values, but has acted to protect the legal foundations of the state in response to persistent internal threats, many of which stem from the RS government. His actions strengthen the Dayton Framework, not nullify it. Claims that Bosnia is less democratic because of the OHR are misleading. The reality is that the withdrawal of international supervision is tied to specific criteria. It is precisely the actions of secessionists and their allies, including undermining the judiciary, obstructing state institutions, and attempting legislative secession, that have delayed that transition - writes Helich.

She also points out that entity leaders in BiH have a certain freedom in conducting foreign affairs, but they are not above the law.

Dodik is not being prosecuted for attending the conference. He faces legal consequences for evading a lawful court order. BiH is attempting, through legal means and with considerable restraint, to protect its constitutional order. Linking law enforcement to political persecution risks encouraging those who openly seek to dismantle democratic governance. International engagement has, if anything, been limited, perhaps too much so. The High Representative has intervened only when other mechanisms have failed. Sanctions and travel bans imposed by European governments have been proportionate, targeted, lawful, and designed to support the rule of law, not to punish dissent. What Bosnia needs now is not imposition, but principled support from its allies, institutions, and observers. Defending Dayton does not mean interfering - it means supporting the very solution that has preserved peace for almost three decades - the text concludes.