Milorad Dodik, president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said on Tuesday that the survival and security of the country’s Serb population depends on strong, independent institutions in the Republika Srpska entity.
Speaking on the 30th anniversary of the exodus of Serbs from Sarajevo during the aftermath of the Bosnian War, Dodik described the mass departure as “painful but a clear lesson” on the importance of institutional autonomy.
“In February and March 1996, over 150,000 people were forced to leave their homes and the life they knew before the 1990s,” he said, referring to the war-related upheavals. “Weakening Republika Srpska is a direct undervaluation of the immense sacrifices made to ensure its survival.”
Republika Srpska, one of the two constitutional entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina alongside the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has long been a focal point of political tension in the country, with Dodik frequently emphasizing its autonomy in matters of governance and security.
The exodus he referenced came after the 1992–1995 conflict in Bosnia, when ethnic cleansing and forced migrations affected hundreds of thousands of people, leaving deep scars on the country’s demography and politics.
Dodik’s remarks come amid ongoing debates over the balance of power between Bosnia’s two entities and the role of the central government, a contentious issue for both domestic politics and international observers monitoring post-war stability in the Western Balkans.