- summary
- RS government withdraws foreign agent law from National Assembly agenda on May 28, 2024. Withdrawal announced by Deputy PM/Justice Minister Miloš Bukejlović without explanation. Dodik subsequently posts on X: "Since Republika Srpska is committed to the European path, we agreed to withdraw this law and further harmonise it with the laws that some European countries have and apply, in order to align it with European legal practice." Adds: "the law will be reintroduced in the near future." Context: withdrawal comes same day Georgian parliament overrides presidential veto on identical legislation — creating unfavorable comparison. OSCE had warned same week that bill contradicts RS and BiH constitutions. US Embassy previously called draft "repressive and undemocratic." ANALYTICALLY IMPORTANT: withdrawal is not abandonment — Dodik explicitly states it will return. The "harmonisation with European standards" framing is identical to the Serbian government's tactic of presenting restrictive legislation as EU-alignment.
- country
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republika Srpska)
- date text
- 28/05/2024
- campaign id
- BIH-CAMP-004
- civic actions
- OSCE/US Embassy pressure documented as withdrawal trigger; civil society: withdrawal is tactical, not substantive
- id
- BIH-034
- incident id
- BIH-033
- notes
- TACTICAL WITHDRAWAL — counter-narrative only in formal sense. Dodik explicitly commits to reintroduction on same day. "EU harmonisation" framing mirrors Serbian government tactic. Analytically: international pressure works temporarily but regime explicitly signals persistence. Gap closes in February 2025 when Dodik conviction provides domestic political cover for urgent reintroduction. Cross-ref BIH-023 (February 25 2025 adoption), BIH-033 (April 3 2024 revised draft).
- outcome
- Law withdrawn (tactical)
- responders
- OSCE and US Embassy (international pressure); RS Government (withdrawal)
- source
- RFE/RL May 29 2024 (https://www.rferl.org/a/republika-srpska-foreign-agents-draft-law-withdraw/32967576.html); Balkan Insight May 29 2024 (Dodik X post quoted); OHCHR February 2025 (confirms "withdrawn in May 2024" then reintroduced)
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