Bosnia and Herzegovina faces tight deadlines to adopt key judicial reforms and appoint a chief negotiator for EU accession talks by Dec. 17, but Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik on Wednesday signalled fresh resistance, accusing the European Union of acting as an “occupier.”
Ana Trišić Babić, the acting president of Republika Srpska (RS), confirmed she remains the candidate of Dodik’s Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) for the post of chief negotiator once Bosnia formally opens accession talks. The position has been vacant as political leaders wrangle over who should represent the country.
Trišić Babić, a long-time adviser to Dodik and former deputy foreign minister, assumed her current role after the RS parliament appointed her acting president when Dodik lost his mandate following a one-year prison sentence for refusing to implement decisions by the international High Representative.
In an interview with Banja Luka–based Alternativna TV, she said the ruling coalition had informally agreed that a Serb should lead the negotiating team, arguing it was “logical” because the chair of the Council of Ministers is a Croat and the foreign minister is a Bosniak. SNSD, as the dominant party in RS, was therefore put forward to fill the post, she said.
Bosniak and civic parties in the state-level coalition strongly oppose her appointment, insisting the role cannot go to SNSD, which they describe as anti-EU and pro-Russian. They argue Dodik would use the position to obstruct the process.
Bosnia must adopt laws on the courts and on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (VSTV), along with appointing the chief negotiator, for the European Council to approve the opening of talks. But progress has stalled after two SNSD ministers twice blocked the Council of Ministers’ agenda, preventing the draft laws from being discussed. Trišić Babić confirmed they are opposed to the proposed legislation.
Dodik separately repeated his rejection of the reforms, saying no laws would be adopted without an internal agreement that protects RS interests. In a post on social platform X, he attacked the EU’s ambassador to Bosnia, Luigi Soreca, calling him an “anti-Serb” and “a miserable relic of a failed policy,” and described the EU as an occupying force.
“If we wanted to endure their occupation, we wouldn’t have fought for our freedom so many times,” Dodik wrote.
Despite his recent removal as SNSD party leader, Dodik continues to hold decisive influence over political structures in Republika Srpska, complicating efforts by Bosnia’s pro-EU factions to meet the bloc’s conditions for advancing accession talks.