The President of BiH's Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Milorad Dodik, stated that this entity will submit a request to join a military agreement with Hungary and Serbia.

Dodik, who has been sentenced by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to one year in prison in a first-instance ruling, announced that an expanded session of the RS government will be held on Saturday, where he will push for Republika Srpska to request entry into a military agreement with Serbia and Hungary.

“Republika Srpska must never accept being part of NATO. Tomorrow, we will have an expanded session of the RS government, and we will seek to join a military and security agreement with Serbia and Hungary. We have the right to do so,” Dodik stated.

On April 1, Serbia and Hungary signed a strategic defense cooperation agreement in Belgrade. This agreement allows for joint exercises and military-technical cooperation in the procurement of weapons.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expressed hope that this agreement is a step closer to forming a military alliance between Serbia and Hungary.

The announcement of joining a military agreement with Hungary and Serbia is Dodik’s latest move amid the political crisis he sparked after being sentenced by the Court of BiH to one year in prison and a six-year ban from holding the office of RS president for failing to comply with the decisions of the High Representative.

The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has since issued an order for the arrest of Dodik, RS Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic, and Nenad Stevandic, the Speaker of the RS Assembly. They are suspected of committing the criminal offense of “attacking the constitutional order” after the RS National Assembly passed and Dodik signed a decree publishing laws that prohibit the operation of state judicial and security institutions in the entity.