Elections held in Bosnia — amid rising ethnic tensions

This complex system of institutions was established under a US-brokered peace agreement in 1995 to regulate contradictions between Bosnian Muslims, Orthodox Serbs, and Catholic Croats.

According to initial reports, voting in several polling stations started late due to problems with the new digital voting system, which was introduced to address previous concerns about fraud. Polling stations will close at 7:00 PM local time.

The elections are taking place at a time when many residents of this multinational Balkan state face daily difficulties, and some leading politicians are fueling wartime tensions, which have maintained divisions in the country since the 1992-1995 conflict.

New security measures for elections

For the first time, authorities are using electronic voter identification and ballot scanning to stop irregularities and organized manipulations that undermined trust in previous elections.

Most of the 75 participating parties are organized along ethnic lines. The Bosnian nationalist Party of Democratic Action (SDA) campaigns on the slogan of preserving Bosnia's unity in the face of Serb separatism, while many Bosnian Croats support ethnic parties, such as the local branch of Croatia's ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

Bakir Izetbegović, who lost to Denis Bećirović in 2022, is seeking a third term as chairman of the center-right SDA, the largest Bosnian party in the country.

Many frustrated citizens say that politicians use nationalism to avoid addressing real problems — the low standard of living and the outflow of youth.

Dodik dominates, although his name is not on the ballots

The election campaign was marked by Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russian separatist former president of the Republika Srpska, although his name is not on the ballots. Dodik is prohibited from holding public office after being convicted of disobeying the international representative overseeing the implementation of the peace agreement.

Dodik traveled to Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He heads the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) party, which is expected to win in the Republika Srpska.

At a final rally on Friday in Banja Luka, attended by Russian Ambassador Igor Kalabukhov, Dodik stated that Bosnia is "dead" and an "impossible country." "There is no sense in this," he emphasized.

For the first time in almost 30 years not participating in elections personally, he still controls the situation and is constantly present in the country's media space, says analyst Dragan Bursać. In his opinion, the ban is not working, and Dodik skillfully exploits it.

Ethnic tensions are rising

In recent years, peace has been maintained in Bosnia, but politicians perpetuate ethnic dividing lines. Bosnian Serb leaders, such as Dodik, seek the secession of their entity, the Republika Srpska, raising Western fears of new instability.

This Balkan state remains one of Europe's poorest countries, still recovering from a war that began after it declared independence from Serb-led Yugoslavia and armed ethnic Serbs sought to create their own state. More than 100,000 people were killed in that conflict, and millions were forced to leave their homes.

The country formally seeks to join the European Union, but progress has stalled, despite EU efforts to push its leaders towards reforms.

Major powers continue to exert influence on the socio-economic and political life of this small Balkan state. Russia hinders EU efforts to expand membership to the Balkans, including Bosnia, while supporting the Republika Srpska.

At the same time, a $1.5 billion gas pipeline project to import American liquefied natural gas is being promoted by a corporation linked to the Trump administration, as part of US attempts to increase its influence.

Memory of the war

Recently, war wounds were reopened by public tributes in Serbia and among Bosnian Serbs to Ratko Mladić, the former army commander who died in late August while serving a life sentence for genocide and other war crimes.

Bosnian Serbs consider him a hero, despite his conviction by a UN court for the killing of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.

High-ranking Bosnian Serb officials attended his funeral in Belgrade, which drew strong criticism from the EU and angered Bosnian politicians.

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