Behind us are the 365 days of 2025, a year that in political terms in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was marked by the verdict against Milorad Dodik, which banned him from holding public office, a standstill on the European Union (EU) path, as well as several scandals and the introduction of a minimum wage of 1.000 BAM in the Federation of BiH (FBiH).
We entered the new year 2025 with a decision by the Government of the FBiH setting the minimum wage in this entity at 1.000 BAM. This represented a significant increase, considering that the minimum wage in 2024 amounted to 619 BAM.
This decision also triggered criticism from part of the employer community, which opposed it, claiming it would make their operations more difficult and reduce investment opportunities, and called for fiscal reforms to ease the burden of contributions. On its part, the FBiH Government reduced the overall rate of payroll levies from 41.5 to 36 percent. Employers were also enabled to receive refunds for part of the contributions that increased due to the rise in the minimum wage.
Milorad Dodik
However, the most important political developments were related to Milorad Dodik, who, after months of political confrontation, ultimately submitted to the authority of state institutions, although the road to that point was long and often on the brink of incidents.
On February 26th, the Court of BiH delivered a first-instance verdict convicting Milorad Dodik of the criminal offence of non-enforcement of decisions of the High Representative under Article 203a, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Code of BiH.
The Court sentenced the defendant Milorad Dodik to one year in prison, as well as imposed a security measure banning him from performing the duties of President of the Republika Srpska (RS)for a period of six years, starting from the day the verdict becomes final.
This was followed by one of the largest political and security crises since the Dayton Agreement. On February 27th, the National Assembly of the RS (NARS) adopted laws banning the operation of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in the RS. Due to these laws, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH launched an investigation against Milorad Dodik, Radovan Viskovic, and Nenad Stevandic on suspicion of an attack on the constitutional order of the state.
When Dodik, Viskovic, and Stevandic refused to respond to summonses for questioning, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH issued arrest warrants, and the Court of BiH ordered one-month detention. This led to a crisis in which, on the one hand, the state had to enforce the decisions of state institutions, while Dodik relied on police protection from elite units of the RS Ministry of the Internal Affairs, which remained loyal to him. Nevertheless, despite the adoption of the laws, state institutions continued to operate in the RS, and employees from the RS ignored Dodik’s call to leave state institutions and move to entity institutions.
A kind of escalation occurred on April 23rd, when SIPA inspectors attempted to serve Dodik with a warrant in Istocno Sarajevo, but members of the RS Ministry of the Internal Affairs prevented this. Photographs even showed RS police special forces with unlocked rifles.
Dodik finally appeared before the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH on July 4th, after which a decision was made to revoke detention, followed by the appearance of Viskovic and Stevandic before the Court of BiH.
On August 1st, the Appellate Panel issued a second-instance decision in the case of Milorad Dodik, President of the RS, confirming the first-instance verdict and sentencing him to one year in prison and a six-year ban from performing the duties of President of the RS. Dodik ultimately accepted and implemented this decision, paid the buyout for the prison sentence, and stepped down from the position of President of the RS. Also, as part of an agreement with the United States (U.S.) administration, sanctions against Dodik and his associates were lifted after they withdrew unconstitutional laws, although those laws had already been nullified earlier by decisions of the Constitutional Court.
The Viaduct case
In the spring of 2025, the “Viaduct” case and the debt of 110 million euros that the RS Government owed to a Slovenian company under an arbitration dispute also reached a deadlock. As BiH was the international guarantor, a court in Belgium seized funds from BHANSA (the BiH Air Navigation Services Agency).
Politicians and parties from the FBiH refused for the state to pay this money, while the opposition from the RS warned that this could amount to siphoning funds from the budget. The crisis was resolved after the High Representative Christian Schmidt issued a decision by which the payment was made from the profits of the Central Bank of BiH (CBBiH) that were supposed to be paid to the RS.
30 years since the Srebrenica genocide
In Srebrenica and around the world, 30 years since the genocide in Srebrenica committed by the Army of the RS (VRS), the RS Ministry of the Internal Affairs, and paramilitary formations were commemorated. At the collective funeral, seven victims were buried: Avdic Senajid (1976), Mujic Hariz (1976), Bektic Fata (1928), Omerovic Hasib (1961), Alic Sejdalija (1961), GabeljicRifet (1964), and Mujcic Amir (1964).
Political leaders and government representatives from around the world gathered at the commemoration in Srebrenica, including Jose Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor, Natasa Pirc Musar, President of Slovenia, and Joachim Gauck, former President of Germany. Andrej Plenkovic, Prime Minister of Croatia, and Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, Prime Minister of Libya, also came to Potocari.
They were followed by the President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Numan Kurtulmus, the President of the Parliament of Azerbaijan, Sahiba Gafarova, and a delegation of the Saudi parliament led by the ambassador.
Numerous foreign ministers were also present: Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug of Mauritania, Ervin Ibrahimovic of Montenegro, Caspar Veldkamp of the Netherlands, Lars Lokke Rasmussen of Denmark, Juraj Blanar of Slovakia, Maria Malmer Stenergard of Sweden, and Igli Hasani of Albania.
At the United Nations (UN), for the first time, the commemoration of the genocide anniversary was organized under the auspices of the world’s most important organization, after a resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2024.
Reform agenda and the path to the European Union (EU)
The authorities of BiH failed to begin accession negotiations with the EU, and major political disputes and slow progress also marked the adoption of the Reform Agenda, which was supposed to enable access to EU funds intended for Western Balkan countries.
Finally, after months of blockage, the Reform Agenda was adopted on September 30th at a session of the Council of Ministers of BiH. On December 4th, the European Commission officially approved BiH‘s Reform Agenda, confirming that the document meets the key conditions for using 976.6 million euros from the EU Instrument for Reforms and Growth.
The approval of the Reform Agenda represents an important step within the broader Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, worth 6 billion euros. This program operates on the principle of “investment with reforms” and is intended to enable countries of the region to move more quickly toward the EU single market, with certain early economic benefits for citizens.
BiH already lost the first 108 million euros this summer, after earlier deadlines set by Brussels for our government were missed.
As for cooperation with the EU, the final deployment of FRONTEX at the borders and airports of BiH has also begun. In October, the first joint operation of FRONTEX and the Border Police of BiH started, with the deployment of approximately 100 officers planned.
Start of POSKOK operations
At the end of April, the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption in the FBiH (POSKOK) began operations. One of the most significant cases is an investigation into possible corruption, abuse of office, and influence peddling within the institutions of the FBiH. As a result of this investigation, the then acting director of the Federal Police Administration, Vahidin Munjic, the director of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs Police Academy, Ervin Musinovic, and the head of the cabinet of Prime Minister Nermin Niksic, Ariana Huseinovic Ajanovic, were banned from performing their duties.
POSKOK requested temporary measures (a ban on performing duties) from the Supreme Court of the FBiH for the director and members of the Supervisory Board of the Public Enterprise Sarajevo Airport in connection with suspicions of abuse of office and possible corrupt activities.
In July, the SDP Congress was held, at which the party abandoned the principle of electing the president on a one member – one vote basis. Although the president’s term had previously been limited to two consecutive terms, decisions adopted at this congress enabled Nermin Niksic to remain party president.
Our party changed its leader, and Sabina Cudic was elected president of the party instead of Edin Forto.
The SDS was also left without a president, as Milan Milicevicsubmitted an irrevocable resignation in the middle of the year. The position of acting president was held by Jovica Radulovic, and at the end of the year Branko Blanusa was elected president of the SDS.
Blanusa emerged as an important factor in political developments after achieving an unexpectedly strong result against SNSD candidate Sinisa Karan in the election for 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 reshuffling within the opposition after the Mayor of Banja Luka and president of the PDP, Drasko Stanivukovic, founded the Safe Srpska Movement. The movement includes politicians from Banja Luka, but the future of the PDP remains unclear, Klix.ba writes.
