OMM Redaksiyası
Bosnia and Herzegovina is holding general elections on Sunday, October 4. The vote could affect the country’s path to EU membership and the competing influence of the United States and Russia in the Western Balkans.
More than 3.4 million registered voters are electing members of a three-member presidency, as well as representatives to legislative bodies at state and entity levels. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time and are due to close at 7 p.m. Preliminary results are expected in the evening.
EU accession process and public discontent
The election is taking place amid growing discontent over weak economic development and a political system frequently paralyzed by ethnic divisions.
Bosnia has been an EU candidate country since 2022. Although it received the green light to begin accession talks in 2024, formal negotiations have yet to start. Political leaders must adopt reforms, including measures to strengthen judicial oversight and fight corruption.
The country’s political structure is based on the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 1992-1995 war. The agreement divided the country into two largely autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Bosniaks and Croats form the majority, and Republika Srpska, where Serbs predominate.
Ismar Garasljevic, a 51-year-old teacher from Sarajevo, spoke about the reasons for discontent with the election, saying: “More than 30 years have passed since the war, and things are still the same; we are talking about nationalism... The same faces, the same story, over and over.”
Dusan Cvijic, a 76-year-old pensioner living in Banja Luka, said poor governance had made daily life difficult for people: “What has been done so far has not been enough. People are struggling; life is very hard.”
Ethnic parties and international influence
Bosniak party SDA, Serb party SNSD and Croat party HDZ BiH are competing in the election against opposition groups, including multiethnic coalitions led by the Social Democratic Party.
In Republika Srpska, SNSD is led by Milorad Dodik, who supports close ties with Serbia and Russia. The outcome of the election in the entity could affect the balance of power between him and Bosnia’s central authorities.
If the main ethnically based parties retain their positions and political disputes continue, Bosnia’s EU accession process could be delayed further.
The election is taking place amid competing interests among international powers. The EU is seeking to bring Bosnia and other Western Balkan countries closer to the bloc, while Russia continues to maintain close ties with Republika Srpska.
The United States has promoted a $1.5 billion pipeline project intended to deliver its liquefied natural gas to the region. Approaches to advancing the project have also exposed differences between Washington and Brussels.
New technologies used in voting
Sunday’s election is the first nationwide vote to use biometric voter identification, ballot scanners and video surveillance at polling stations.
Voters will use paper ballots. Their identities will be checked biometrically, and ballots will be scanned before being placed in ballot boxes. The Central Election Commission expects the technologies to speed up counting, increase transparency and allow preliminary results to be announced sooner than in previous elections.
Bosnians living abroad are also voting, with ballots accepted by mail and at diplomatic missions in 13 countries.
The election will determine 518 officeholders across the country’s complex system of government at state, entity and cantonal levels. For many voters, the key question is whether a new government can overcome the political divisions that have shaped the country since the war.
