The 365 days of 2025 are behind us, which politically in Bosnia and Herzegovina was marked by the verdict against Milorad Dodik, by which he was banned from performing public functions, a standstill on the EU road, but also several affairs and the introduction of a minimum wage of 1,000 KM in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We entered the new year 2025 with the decision of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which set the minimum wage in this entity at 1,000 KM. This was a significant increase if you consider that the minimum wage in 2024 was 619 KM.
This decision also caused criticism from some of the employers who opposed it, claiming that it would make it difficult for them to do business and reduce investment opportunities, and they called for fiscal reforms that would relieve the tax burden. For its part, the Government of FBiH reduced the total levy rate on wages from 41.5 to 36 percent. Also, employers are allowed to refund part of the levies that were increased due to the increase in the minimum wage.
Milorad Dodik
However, the most important political events were related to Milorad Dodik who, after several months of political competition, finally obeyed the authority of state authorities, but the road to that was long and often on the verge of an incident.
On February 26, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a first-instance verdict in which Milorad Dodik was convicted for committing the criminal offense of failure to execute the decisions of the High Representative from Article 203a paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The court sentenced the accused Milorad Dodik to a prison sentence of one year, as well as a security measure prohibiting him from performing the duties of the President of the Republic of Srpska for a period of six years, from the day the verdict became final.
After that, one of the biggest political and security crises started after the Dayton Agreement. On February 27, the National Assembly of the RS adopted laws prohibiting the activities of the HJPC, the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and SIPA in the RS. Because of these laws, the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina launched an investigation against Milorad Dodik, Radovan Višković and Nenad Stevandić on suspicion of an attack on the constitutional order of the state.
When Dodik, Višković and Stevandić refused to respond to the summons for hearing, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an arrest warrant, and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered a one-month detention. This led to a crisis where, on the one hand, the state had to implement the decisions of state authorities, while Dodik relied on the police protection of the elite units of the MUP of the RS, who remained loyal to him. Nevertheless, despite the adoption of the law, state institutions continued to operate in the RS, and employees from the RS ignored Dodik’s call to leave the state institutions and move to entity institutions.
There was a sort of heatwave on April 23, when SIPA inspectors tried to serve Dodik with a warrant in East Sarajevo, and members of the RS MUP prevented it. In the photographs, even the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS were seen with their rifles cocked.
Dodik finally appeared at the BiH Prosecutor’s Office on July 4, after which a decision was made to terminate custody, followed by the appearance of Višković and Stevandić in the Court of BiH.
On August 1, the Appellate Council made a second-instance decision in the case of Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, confirming the first-instance decision and sentencing him to one year in prison and a six-year ban on performing the duties of the President of the Republic of Srpska. In the end, Dodik accepted and implemented this decision, paid the ransom for the prison terms, and left the position of president of the RS. Also, as part of the agreement with the US administration, sanctions were lifted on Dodik and his collaborators while they withdrew unconstitutional laws, even though those laws had previously been invalidated by decisions of the Constitutional Court.
The Viaduct case
In the spring of 2025, a wall was reached in the case of “Viaduct” and the debt of 110 million euros that the Government of the RS owed to the Slovenian company in an arbitration dispute. As the guarantor on the international level was Bosnia and Herzegovina, the court in Belgium confiscated it from BHANSA (Air Traffic Control Agency).
Politicians and parties from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina refused to allow the state to pay this money, while the opposition from the RS warned that it was a possible withdrawal of money from the budget. The crisis was resolved after the High Representative Christian Schmidt made a decision by which it was paid out of the profits of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which should have been paid to the RS.
30 years since the genocide in Srebrenica
In Srebrenica and around the world, 30 years have been marked since the genocide in Srebrenica committed by the RS Army, RS MUP and paramilitary formations. Seven victims were buried at the collective funeral: Avdić Senajid (1976), Mujić Hariz (1976), Bektić Fata (1928), Omerović Hasib (1961), Alić Sejdalija (1961), Gabeljić Rifet (1964) and Mujčić Amir (1964).
The commemoration in Srebrenica was attended by political leaders and government representatives from around the world, including José Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor, Nataša Pirc Musar, President of Slovenia, and Joachim Gauck, former President of Germany. Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of Croatia, and Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, Prime Minister of Libya, also came to Potočari.
Then the President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Numan Kurtulmuş, the President of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova, and the delegation of the Saudi Parliament led by the ambassador.
Numerous foreign ministers were also present: Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug from Mauritania, Ervin Ibrahimović from Montenegro, Caspar Veldkamp from the Netherlands, Lars Løkke Rasmussen from Denmark, Juraj Blanár from Slovakia, Maria Malmer Stenergard from Sweden and Igli Hasani from Albania.
In the United Nations, for the first time in the organization of this most important world organization, the commemoration of the anniversary of the genocide was organized after the resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2024.
The reform agenda and the path to the EU
The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina failed to start accession negotiations with the European Union, and there were great political disputes and the adoption of the Reform Agenda, which was supposed to provide access to European Union funds intended for the countries of the Western Balkans, was slow.
Finally, after months of blockade, on September 30, the Reform Agenda was adopted at the session of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On December 4, the European Commission officially approved the Reform Agenda of Bosnia and Herzegovina, confirming that the document meets the key conditions for the use of 976.6 million euros from the EU Instrument for Reforms and Growth.
The approval of the Reform Agenda represents an important step forward within the wider Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, worth 6 billion euros. This program works according to the principle of “investment with reforms” and should enable the countries of the region to approach the EU single market faster, with certain early economic benefits for citizens.
Bosnia and Herzegovina already lost the first 108 million euros this summer, when the earlier Brussels deadlines for our government were breached.
Regarding cooperation with the European Union, the final deployment of FRONTEX at the borders and airports of Bosnia and Herzegovina has begun. In October, the first joint operation of FRONTEX and the BiH Border Police began, and the deployment of approximately 100 officers is planned.
The beginning of the operation of POSKOK
At the end of April, the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime in FBiH (POSKOK) started its work. One of the most significant cases is the investigation into possible corruption, abuse of position and trade in influence within the institutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a result of this investigation, the then acting director of the Federal Police Administration, Vahidin Munjić, the director of the FMUP police academy, Ervin Mušinović, and the head of Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić’s cabinet, Arijana Huseinović Ajanović, were banned.
POSKOK requested from the Supreme Court of FBiH temporary measures (prohibition of performing duties) for the director and members of the Supervisory Board of JP Aerodrom Sarajevo in connection with suspicions of abuse of position and possible corrupt practices.
Events in political parties
In July, the SDP Congress was held, where the party abandoned the principle of electing the president by one member – one vote. Although previously the mandate of the president was limited to two consecutive mandates, decisions were made at this congress that enabled Nermin Nikšić to remain party president.
Our party changed its leader and instead of Edin Forte, Sabina Ćudić was elected as party president.
SDS also remained without a president, where Milan Miličević submitted his irrevocable resignation in the middle of the year. Jovica Radulović performed the function of acting president, and at the end of the year, Branko Blanuša was elected president of SDS.
Blanuš emerged as an important factor in political events after he achieved an unexpectedly good result against SNSD candidate Siniša Karan in the elections for the president of the RS. The final decision on the president of the RS will be made in 2026.
On the political scene, there was also a change in the opposition after the mayor of Banja Luka and the president of the PDP, Draško Stanivuković, founded the Safe Srpska Movement. The movement includes politicians from Banja Luka, but the future of the PDP is unclear, he writes Klix.
