The international community’s high representative Christian Schmidt has blocked all funding for the SNSD – the ruling party of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska – and its coalition partner Ujedinjena Srpska (United Srpska) over direct threats to the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) that ended the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, he said in a statement on April 24.

Schmidt’s decision comes after a series of steps by Republika Srpska towards secession, triggered by the entity’s President Milorad Dodik and supported by the government led by Radovan Viskovic and parliament speaker Nenad Stevandic – all three with arrest warrants yet to be executed.

Bosnia comprises two autonomous entities – the Muslim-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska. Each of them has its own institutions and there are also state-level bodies. As the international community’s envoy, Schmidt has special Bonn powers to block any violations of the Dayton peace agreement or the state constitution.

“All budget disbursements for political party financing intended for SNSD and United Srpska at every level within Bosnia & Herzegovina – state, entity, cantonal, city, municipal and Brcko District – will be suspended and redirected to a special account in the Central Bank of Bosnia & Herzegovina,” Schmidt said in a video speech uploaded on the website of the Office of the High Representative (OHR).

“This decision supports the efforts by institutions of Bosnia & Herzegovina to counter the ongoing flagrant attacks by the Republika Srpska ruling coalition led by the SNSD and United Srpska against the fundamental principles of the Dayton peace agreement and the constitutional and legal order of Bosnia & Herzegovina. The leaders of SNSD and United Srpska have been on the forefront of these anti-Dayton activities,” he added.

SNSD is led by Dodik and Viskovic is in the party’s leadership, while Stevandic is the leader of United Srpska.

Schmidt said also that the two parties have been actively preventing state institutions from exercising their responsibilities and enforcing their decisions.

“The leaders of SNSD and United Srpska incite Republika Srpska institutions and citizens into committing criminal offenses, threatening citizens of Republika Srpska to sanction any resistance and disobedience,” Schmidt said.

His decision entered into force immediately.

Dodik and Stevandic responded to Schmidt’s latest decision, saying they do not recognise his authority.

“The decision of this [situation] is [the Federation] to hand over Schmidt to Republika Srpska so that Republika Srpska deals with him, prosecutes him and imprisons him in our prison for false representation and attempts to dismantle BiH. We would be happy to do that. If he appears on the territory of Republika Srpska and we are sufficiently informed about it, we will arrest him,” Dodik told reporters.

“The solution is clear: Schmidt out, his decisions out. We will block the application of his decrees,” he added, according to a video of his statement broadcasted by RTRS.

Stevandic said that, since Republika Srpska does not recognise Schmidt’s legitimacy, he has no authority to rule on the entity’s budget. Stevandic also accused the high representative of acting like a Nazi.

“[I]t is certain that he follows the Nazi philosophy. Schmidt will pass like the Nazis in 1945,” he said as quoted by N1 news outlet.