The trial of the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and the acting director of the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, Miloš Lukić, continues before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where closing arguments will be presented.

They are accused of disobeying the decisions of High Representative Christian Schmidt and face up to five years in prison and a ban on political activity.

Although the outcome of the year-long process before this judicial institution is awaited, pressure on the Court of BiH is increasing.

On the one hand, the RS leadership is threatening with "radical decisions", while on the other hand, representatives of the authorities of neighboring Serbia and Hungary are doing so.

Dodik is accused of signing presidential decrees and declaring valid two unconstitutional laws of Republika Srpska that High Representative Christian Schmidt had previously annulled.

Along with Dodik, Miloš Lukić, director of the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, is also on trial, accused of publishing decrees and laws according to which the decisions of the High Representative and the Constitutional Court of BiH will not be applied on the territory of that entity.

One concerns the fact that the decisions of the High Representative are not published in the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, and the other is that the judgments and decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina are not applied on the territory of Republika Srpska.

These two controversial laws were signed by the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, or rather, the decrees for their publication, and the acting director of the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, Miloš Lukić, published them in the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska.

Schmidt then imposed changes to the criminal code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to which disrespect for the decisions of the High Representative is treated as a criminal offense and is punishable by a prison sentence of six months to five years, as well as a ban on holding public office.

Dodik's defense has repeated from hearing to hearing that this is a politically orchestrated process aimed at removing Dodik from public political life and removing him from the position of President of Republika Srpska.

What is also expected in the closing arguments is that Dodik's defense will emphasize his constitutional role, namely that he had to sign those agreements and decrees for the promulgation of laws adopted by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, because that is his obligation under the constitution of Republika Srpska, which is harmonized with the constitution of Republika Srpska.

Dodik's defense will reiterate that Christian Schmidt was not legitimately elected, and will emphasize that even if he had been legitimately elected, he did not have the authority to pass or impose laws, but rather that he had to send them to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, which would confirm or reject the decisions.

The RS leadership held a meeting in Banja Luka on the evening of February 17, at which it warned that it would take "radical steps" if the Court of BiH convicted Dodik.

The meeting supported a permanent session of the RS National Assembly, which should make decisions in response, and threatened to leave all BiH institutions if Dodik is convicted.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has also joined the pressure on the Court of BiH, saying on February 17 in Budapest that he hopes that "they will not issue judgments in BiH that could endanger stability."

Two days before the final hearing, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for a "stop to the punishment of Dodik," who, along with the entire RS leadership, is under sanctions by the United States and the European Union for corruption and undermining BiH.

"The new winds of international politics give hope that the political attacks on Dodik must finally stop," Orbán wrote on the social network X after a conversation with Dodik on February 17 in Budapest.