Milorad Dodik will lose his diplomatic passport of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic confirmed to Radio Free Europe.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs specified that Dodik is obliged to return the passport within 15 days. If the deadline is not met, the Border Police and the diplomatic and consular network will be notified that the document has been canceled.

The decision comes a day after Dodik's mandate was officially terminated, after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina finally rejected his lawyer's appeal against the decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to remove him from office. According to the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the CEC must schedule early elections for the president of Republika Srpska, which must be held within 90 days. The mandate of the newly elected president will be valid until the regular elections scheduled for October next year.

The CEC made the decision to revoke Dodik's mandate just days after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in early August finally sentenced him to one year in prison and a six-year ban on holding public office for disrespecting the decisions of the High Representative of the international community in the country. | BGNES