When international institutions overreach, they often reveal more about themselves than about the people they seek to discipline. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the attempt to prosecute Milorad Dodik, president of the Republika Srpska, on the basis of a decree imposed by a foreign official with no constitutional authority, is not merely a legal absurdity — it is a geopolitical error of historic proportions.
The Mistake No One Saw Coming
Christian Schmidt, the so-called High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, may have believed he was neutralizing a local strongman. What he actually did was elevate Dodik to a global stage. By criminalizing political dissent through a non-constitutional amendment to Bosnia’s Criminal Code, Schmidt didn’t just provoke resistance — he created a symbol. A martyr, even.
Milorad Dodik now becomes a man the world will watch — not out of sympathy, but out of curiosity and discomfort. And when he speaks, people will listen, not because of his past, but because of what is being done to him in the present. The question will no longer be who Dodik is, but how the international community lost its moral compass in Bosnia.
The Danger of Law Without Legitimacy
Let us be clear: Schmidt is not an elected official. He is not appointed by any constitutional mechanism within Bosnia. His legal status is not recognized by Bosnia’s Constitution, nor was he confirmed by the UN Security Council. Yet, with the stroke of a pen, he rewrote the country’s criminal code — an act forbidden by virtually every international legal standard.
And yet, Bosnia’s own judiciary accepted this. Dodik was denied the opportunity to challenge Schmidt’s authority. Denied the right to cross-examine the man whose decree criminalized his words. Denied the protections afforded to any defendant in a rule-of-law society.
This isn’t justice. It is political theater wrapped in legalese.
And Interpol may soon be asked to join the performance.
Interpol’s Test — and the World’s Double Standard
Should Interpol issue a red notice against Dodik — based on a politically loaded, legally unratified decree — it would be the first such case in history. The first time a global police agency prosecutes an elected leader under a law created by an unelected, foreign individual.
For whom, then, do legal norms apply? Because Interpol has refused to issue notices in other politically sensitive cases:
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It rejected Spain’s request to arrest Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, citing political grounds.
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It refused Bolivia’s warrant for Evo Morales, and
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It denied Serbia’s request for Albin Kurti, Kosovo’s current prime minister.
Should it act differently with Dodik — it will send a message heard far beyond the Balkans: that Serbs are held to different standards in the international order.
The Ugly Silence
All the while, Schmidt remains silent on the open antisemitism and radicalism expressed online by some of his local allies. On the official Facebook page of Naser Orić, a wartime commander celebrated in certain Bosniak circles, one can find comments glorifying Hitler, calling for the extermination not of Serbs — but of Jews. And yet, there is no intervention, no condemnation, no diplomatic cable to the UN.
The irony is bitter. In trying to present himself as a guardian of democracy, Schmidt has revealed his selective morality. In attempting to discipline Dodik, he has globalized him.
A Symbol Is Born
If this continues, Dodik will not be seen as a local autocrat or a nationalist relic. He will become, in the eyes of many, a symbol of defiance against a global order that still colonizes through bureaucracy and punishes selectively. His words — however controversial — will travel farther than they ever have. His presence — once confined to the Balkans — will spill into the chambers of global debate.
In a strange twist of fate, Christian Schmidt may have done more to amplify Milorad Dodik’s voice than any campaign or movement ever could.
And that is a mistake you can’t undo.
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