The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has asked Interpol to issue an arrest warrant for the president of Bosnia's Serb entity Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and Republika Srpska parliament speaker Nenad Stevandić.

Earlier this month, Bosnia’s state authorities issued central arrest warrants for Dodik, Stevandić and Republika Srpska Prime Minister Radovan Viškovic after they refused to comply with a detention order.

The three are wanted for pushing legislative changes that violate the state constitution and the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 1992-1995 war. The proposed changes would effectively lead to Republika Srpska’s secession from Bosnia, in direct violation of the agreement.

The court confirmed in a statement that it issued the request for Interpol arrest warrants for the two Bosnian Serb politicians on March 26. Both Dodik and Stevandić exited Bosnia despite being issued a travel ban, the court said on March 27.

“On 26 March 2025, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina received a proposal from the Prosecutor's Office of BiH to issue an international arrest warrant for the suspects Milorad Dodik and Nenad Stevandić. In its proposal, which was accepted, the Prosecutor's Office rightly drew the basis for issuing the warrant from the obvious actions taken by the suspects Dodik and Stevandić, who, using their high-ranking positions in the Republika Srpska entity, avoided the legally prescribed border control procedures and crossed the state border and left Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the statement said.

“It is known that the suspect Dodik is currently in Israel, while the suspect Stevandić, avoiding the legally prescribed controls, even returned to BiH on March 18, 2025, all of which indicates the likelihood that they could be abroad at any time, which is the basis for acting in accordance with Article 446, paragraph 2 of the BiH Criminal Code and issuing an order for an international arrest warrant, which the court issued,” the statement added.

Dodik responded to the news with a statement on his personal website. 

“Nothing unusual, the abuse of the judiciary continues, Muslims are trying to do everything alongside Sarajevo, as well as the extra-constitutional Prosecutor's Office and the Court of BiH to instrumentalise it,” he wrote. 

He added that Bosnia & Herzegovina is a “failed country”.

Dodik has continued to travel despite the arrest warrant, posting details of his international movements on social media. He was in Serbia earlier this week attending a ceremony with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić before proceeding to Israel.

The Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced on March 23 that an investigation is underway into how Dodik managed to leave the country undetected. “All measures and actions are being taken to determine the circumstances and ways the President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, crossed the border between BiH and the Republic of Serbia,” the agency said in a statement.

Dodik is currently in Israel attending a two-day Conference on the Fight Against Antisemitism. In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Dodik praised Israel’s resilience and drew parallels between the Jewish and Serbian peoples. “Israel demonstrates that freedom and security are priceless,” he wrote. “Just as Israel unapologetically defends itself, Republika Srpska defends its right to exist and honour the legacy of our ancestors.”

Dodik also used social media to condemn Nato’s past military actions in the Balkans, posting a picture of himself alongside Vučić at the commemoration ceremony of the 1999 Nato bombings in Batajnica near Belgrade. “Nato bombed the Serbian people twice, out of pleasure, without hesitation or international approval,” he wrote. “Republika Srpska wants to see a strong Serbia. I believe that this leadership will restore stability to Serbia and continue the country's prosperity.”

His defiance of Bosnian state institutions has fueled fears of potential clashes within Bosnia, escalating tensions in what is increasingly seen as Bosnia’s biggest political crisis since the end of the war in 1995. 

Bosnia has been seeking European Union membership, but progress has been slow due to ongoing ethnic and political disputes. The international community has warned that Republika Srpska’s separatist ambitions pose a significant threat to regional stability.