Polls close in Bosnia and Herzegovina's divisive general election
Voting ended Sunday in Bosnia and Herzegovina's general election, where around 3.4 million eligible voters chose members of the country's tripartite presidency and other officials. Early counts point to the deep ethnic divisions that continue to shape the country's politics.
Polling stations across Bosnia and Herzegovina closed on Sunday evening after a day of voting involving roughly 3.4 million eligible citizens. The ballot covered several layers of government, including seats on the country's multiethnic, three-member presidency.
As counting got underway, Serb nationalist Zeljka Cvijanovic, Bosniak moderate leftist Denis Becirovic, and Croat nationalist Darijana Filipovic each moved into an early lead for their respective ethnic community's presidential seat. Cvijanovic ran with the backing of Milorad Dodik, the former secessionist leader of Republika Srpska, who is barred from public office for six years following a conviction for defying the international envoy who oversees implementation of the 1995 peace accords.
Voters also selected members of the federal parliament and leadership for the country's two largely autonomous entities — the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serb-run Republika Srpska.
The vote unfolded against a backdrop of mounting difficulties: a slowing economy, stalled progress toward EU accession, and persistent political deadlock, as ethnically aligned dominant parties in both entities have repeatedly blocked decisions at the central government level. The contest pitted the establishment ethnic parties — the Bosniak SDA, Serb SNSD, and Croat HDZ BiH — against multiethnic opposition coalitions led by the Social Democratic Party.
Dodik's shadow and EU hopes
Though absent from the ballot himself, Dodik remains the dominant political force in Republika Srpska, where his ally Savo Minic stood for the entity's presidency. Dodik favors closer ties with Serbia and Russia and had just returned from Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Bosniak SDA party is campaigning to strengthen the central state, while incumbent presidency member Becirovic has pledged to pursue EU and NATO membership. Bosnia and Herzegovina has held EU candidate status since 2022, though the start of actual accession talks hinges on reforms including stronger judicial oversight and new anti-corruption legislation. Preliminary results were expected later Sunday.
