I have received with deep concern the news of the decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by which the legally elected President of the Republic of Srpska – Milorad Dodik, has been sentenced, against all legal frameworks, to one year in prison and a six-year ban from engaging in politics.
 
This verdict, undoubtedly unconstitutional and contrary to the Dayton Agreement, has the potential to endanger everything that has been achieved over the past thirty years in healing the wounds of war and fostering reconciliation among the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As such, it is extremely dangerous. Praying to the Lord, the Giver of Peace, to grant us the spirit of peace in these difficult times and to inspire us to build it together, I appeal to all actors in this unfortunate situation to do everything in their power to halt and prevent rising tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Otherwise – God forbid – this could destabilize the Balkans and the broader region and could plunge the fragile and painstakingly built process of interethnic reconciliation into the abyss of new, unnecessary, and undesired tragedies.