(Adnkronos) – Bosnia and Herzegovina will hold national elections on October 4th. This was announced by the electoral commission of the Balkan country, divided into two entities since the end of the inter-ethnic conflict that bloodied it between 1992 and 1995, causing almost 100,000 victims.
This division between the Serb (Republika Srpska) and Croat-Muslim (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) entities complicates the elections and makes the counting of results complex, often marred by accusations of fraud. In an attempt to contain the problem, the electoral commission also announced the introduction of new Smartmatic biometric controls and ballot scanners in 6,000 polling stations. The vote will determine the composition of the levels of the complex administrative machine, from the tripartite federal presidency to the composition of the central parliament and that of the national parliaments of the individual entities. This year, the polls will also decide the composition of local assemblies in the Croat-Muslim Federation.
The vote follows a politically turbulent period within the small Serb state, Republika Srpska, culminating in the removal of the entity’s president, the nationalist Milorad Dodik in 2025, dismissed from his post after being convicted of repeatedly ignoring decisions made by the internationally appointed High Representative, who oversees the country’s peace agreements signed in December 1995 in Paris. His removal triggered one of the most serious political crises in the country since the end of the conflict, further slowing down the reforms necessary to continue the path to European Union membership.
