Bosnia's internal turmoil flares as Bosnian Serb-leader calls for Muslims to "return to Christianity"

The ongoing ethnic tensions within Bosnia and Herzegovina have been further sparked by a “dangerous” remark made by Milorad Dodik, president of the Serb-majority Republika Srpska, who suggested that Bosnia’s Muslim population should “return to the Orthodox faith” to resolve the country’s ongoing political crisis.

The Polish TVP World publication has cited Dodik, a nationalist leader pushing for greater autonomy, who claimed that Bosnia is “falling apart” and that a mass conversion to Orthodox Christianity would create a “majority Serb” state capable of functioning. Dodik, currently in a long-standing constitutional standoff with authorities in the country's capital Sarajevo, framed his remarks as a “constructive proposal,” arguing that Bosniaks converting to Christianity would “resolve” ethnic divisions. “There is evidence that our ancestors converted to Islam under Ottoman coercion. That is why this is the right solution for me,” he said. 

The publication recalls the 2013 census, according to which around 50% of Bosnia’s population identify as Bosniak — a Slavic ethnic group with cultural and religious ties to Sunni Islam, introduced during the Ottoman Empire. Serbs make up about 31% of the population. Muslim representatives in Bosnia accused Dodik of consistent hate speech. The Riyasat of the Islamic Community — the main Muslim organization — noted he had previously likened Bosniaks to Hamas and referred to their communities as “Muslim lairs.” It called on authorities to prosecute him for inciting national, racial, and religious hatred. “Dodik’s statements are the best proof that genocidal policies continue,” the group said. “They show why this threat to peace in the Balkans must be stopped.”

Last week, Bosnia’s State Investigation and Protection Agency attempted to arrest Dodik, but security forces from Republika Srpska blocked access to the building he was in. This was the latest escalation in a crisis that many fear could lead the region toward secession. The current turmoil began in February when Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison and banned from politics for six years for defying orders from an international peace envoy tasked with maintaining stability in the fragile, multi-ethnic state. 

Bosnia has struggled with ethnic tensions since its emergence from the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. A brutal war between rival groups left more than 100,000 dead from 1992–1995, including the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which over 8,000 Bosniaks were killed by Serb forces. 

The Dayton peace agreement ended the war by dividing the country into two entities, Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation, as seen on the above picture, but under Dodik’s leadership, Republika Srpska has increasingly challenged the post-war constitutional order. Igor Stojanović, vice-president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, denounced Dodik’s comments as a continuation of the same ideology that fueled past ethnic cleansing and genocide. “His statement that Bosniaks should ‘return to Orthodoxy’ is not only scandalous but dangerous,” he said. 

By Nazrin Sadigova