ISSUE: 2/2026
- Volume 30
- Number 2
- 2026
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Studia Europejskie –
Studies in European Affairs
ISSN: 1428-149X
e-ISSN: 2719-3780
License
Articles published in the journal are under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial – No Derivatives 4.0 International License
Publication co-financed by Ministry of Science and Higher Education pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Science of 3 August 2021 (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 1514) on the “Development of Scientific Journals” programme.
Publikacja dofinansowana przez Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego na podstawie rozporządzenia Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z 3 sierpnia 2021 r. (Dz. U. z 2021 r. poz. 1514) w sprawie programu „Rozwój czasopism naukowych”.
Publication co-financed by the University of Warsaw within the “Excellence Initiative – Research University” programme.
Czasopismo otrzymało dofinasowanie w ramach Programu „Inicjatywa Doskonałości – Uczelnia Badawcza”.
Political and Security Consequences for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans Thirty Years After the Signing of the Dayton Agreement
Abstract
In the three-and-a-half-year war, over 100,000 people were killed in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and approximately 2.3 million were displaced. During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, major international organisations – namely, the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union (EU), and NATO – underwent certain forms of transformation and modified their modes of action regarding such crisis situations.
Following the genocide committed by Serbs against Bosniaks in Srebrenica on 11th July 1995, and on the basis of decisions by the UN Security Council and the North Atlantic Council from 10th August 1995, NATO launched Operation Deliberate Force from 30th August to 14th September 1995, with the aim of ending the war in BiH.
The Dayton Peace Agreement, or the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (GFAP), was signed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, USA, on 21st November 1995, and formally ratified on 14th December in Paris. According to the Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two entities: The Republic of Srpska comprising 49% of the territory, and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina comprising 51% of the territory. The Brčko District was later established through arbitration, and is characterised by the presence of three constituent peoples – namely, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats.
Annex 10, Article 1 of the Dayton Agreement established the position of the High Representative (OHR). At a meeting in Bonn in December 1997, the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) granted the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina the authority to exercise the so-called “Bonn Powers”. To maintain and enforce peace in BiH immediately following the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, NATO-led IFOR forces deployed 60,000 troops with extensive mandates. Under UN Security Council Resolution 1088, these were transformed into the Stabilisation Force (SFOR) with approximately 30,000 troops. Following NATO, the European Union assumed the peacekeeping mission in BiH in 2004 with the formation of EUFOR Althea, consisting of 7,000 troops, which remains active at the time of writing.
In a context in which the United States and, in particular, the European Union are fully engaged in the war in Ukraine, Aleksandar Vučić and Milorad Dodik are utilising the situation to implement nationalist policies, which are modelled in way that closely resemble the policies of Slobodan Milošević and Franjo Tudjman in the 1990s. The former President of Republic Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has been particularly active in undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement, including through the use of lobbying firms from the United States and Israel.
Through the research conducted in this paper, a special scientific contribution is made to the fields of national and regional security and international relations in contemporary global circumstances.
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DOI: 10.33067/SE.2.2026.4
Language: English
Pages: 69-92
How to Cite:
Harvard
Tahirović, M. (2026) "Political and Security Consequences for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans Thirty Years After the Signing of the Dayton Agreement". Studia Europejskie – Studies in European Affairs, 2/2026, pp. 69-92. DOI: 10.33067/SE.2.2026.4