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Photograph: Marko Đurica/Reuters     (bosnian-serb-nationalist-dodik-declares-party-victory-in-bosnia-election.html#img-1)   View image in fullscreen       Formerly the president of the country’s Serb-majority entity of Republika Srpska, Dodik has been banned from holding public office. Photograph: Marko Đurica/Reuters       (https://www.theguardian.com/world/bosnia-and-herzegovina) Bosnia and Herzegovina     Bosnian Serb nationalist Dodik declares party victory in Bosnia election   Staunchly pro-Russia politician has dominated campaign and inflamed divisions despite not appearing on ballot         Associated Press   Sun 4 Oct 2026 16.42 EDT  Last modified on Sun 4 Oct 2026 16.54 EDT   (mailto:?subject=Bosnian Serb nationalist Dodik declares party victory in Bosnia election&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/04/bosnian-serb-nationalist-dodik-declares-party-victory-in-bosnia-election?CMP=share_btn_url) Share          (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=theguardian.com) Prefer the Guardian on Google          Bosnian Serb nationalist politician Milorad Dodik has declared victory for his party in an election in Bosnia shaped by economic pressures, the prospect of the Balkan nation joining the European Union and ethnic tensions that have divided the country since its brutal 1992-95 war. Dodik is a staunchly pro-Russia politician who, despite not appearing on the ballot, has dominated the campaign and inflamed divisions with separatist rhetoric that has sparked fears of renewed instability in Bosnia.  Formerly the president of the country’s Serb-majority entity of Republika Srpska, Dodik was banned from holding public office after being convicted last year of defying decisions by the international envoy overseeing the 1995 peace agreement that ended the war. With nearly 90% of votes counted, Dodik’s ally Željka Cvijanović of the rightwing Alliance of Independent Social Democrats had more than 55% of the votes to take one of the three seats in the country’s tripartite presidency, leading her nearest opponent by about 30 percentage points. Speaking at a news conference late on Sunday, Dodik said his nationalist party would also hold a “vast majority” in Republika Srpska’s assembly, and credited US president Donald Trump’s “magnificent victory” in 2024 and Russian president Vladimir Putin’s support for the election win. “No one should ask us to change our politics,” Dodik said. “We will not give up, but continue for our people … I cannot believe that we smashed it like this.” About 3.4 million voters were eligible to choose the three members of the country’s multi-ethnic presidency, lawmakers for the national parliament and heads of institutions for the country’s two entities: the Muslim-majority Federation of (https://www.theguardian.com/world/bosnia-and-herzegovina) Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, which is dominated by ethnic Serbs. With more than 94% of votes counted on Sunday, Darijana Filipović of the nationalist Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina held a commanding lead for the Croat seat on the presidency, while the incumbent Bosniak member of the presidency, Denis Bećirović of the Social Democratic party, led his nearest opponent, Bakir Izetbegović, by fewer than three percentage points. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/03/politicians-election-young-people-leaving-bosnia-herzegovina)  Can anything politicians say at Sunday’s election stop young people from leaving Bosnia?     Read more        Both Filipović and Bećirović declared victory in their races late on Sunday before all votes were counted. Bosnia’s central election commission said that 1,432,269 votes were cast in total, a turnout of 42% that was down by about 8% from Bosnia’s last election in 2022. Bosnia has a complex web of governing institutions that were created by a US-brokered peace agreement in 1995 in an effort to manage the ethnic divisions between Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats that gave rise to the war. Yet Dodik has consistently tested those limits, openly defying Bosnia’s national government in the capital Sarajevo and making moves for Republika Srpska to separate from the country. At his party’s final election rally on Friday night in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska’s administrative capital, Dodik told supporters that Bosnia “is dead”. (bosnian-serb-nationalist-dodik-declares-party-victory-in-bosnia-election.html#EmailSignup-skip-link-14) skip past newsletter promotion     Free newsletter | Every day    Sign up to Headlines Europe  A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day  ()   Enter your email  ()   Sign up      after newsletter promotion   “It is an impossible country. It doesn’t make any sense,” Dodik said at the rally, which was also attended by Russian ambassador Igor Khalabukov. Such political and ethnic divisions – in which the country’s Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats largely vote along ethnic lines – have blocked Bosnia’s progress toward joining the EU despite the bloc’s efforts to encourage the country’s divided leaders to work together for reform. Dragan Bursać, an analyst, said that despite Dodik not appearing on the ballot for the first time in nearly 30 years, he “is still in command. He is everywhere.” “It is obvious that these measures to ban him from political life are not working, and he is using them,” Bursać said. One of the poorest countries in Europe, Bosnia is still struggling to recover decades on from the war, which started in 1992 after the country declared independence from the Serb-led former Yugoslavia and ethnic Serbs took up arms to carve out their own state and join Serbia. The conflict killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions. Bosnia’s wartime wounds were recently revived by a public homage in Serbia and among Bosnian Serbs to the wartime army commander Ratko Mladić, who died in late August while serving a life sentence for genocide and other war crimes.         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(https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/30/eu-diplomats-clash-with-trump-administration-over-top-bosnia-and-herzegovina-post)    ()      US and European diplomats continue standoff over top Bosnia and Herzegovina post   (Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 05:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 30 Jun 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/30/europe-us-high-representative-for-bosnia)    ()      Europe and US on collision course over next high representative for Bosnia    (Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 04:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 30 Jun 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/06/us-threatens-to-reconsider-role-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina-amid-rift-with-europe)    ()      US threatens to reconsider role in Bosnia and Herzegovina amid rift with Europe   (Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 12:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 6 Jun 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/pro-russia-bosnian-serb-president-milorad-dodik-jailed-for-separatist-actions)    ()      Pro-Russia Bosnian Serb president Dodik sentenced for separatist actions   (Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 04:22 PM Eastern Standard Time) 26 Feb 2025           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/11/milan-prosecutors-investigate-alleged-sniper-tourism-during-bosnian-war)    ()      Milan prosecutors investigate alleged ‘sniper tourism’ during Bosnian war   (Tuesday, November 11, 2025 at 12:20 PM Eastern Standard Time) 11 Nov 2025           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/31/court-widens-war-convictions-of-former-serbian-security-officers)    ()      Court widens war crimes convictions of former Serbian security officers    (Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 09:31 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 31 May 2023           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/10/bosnian-serb-leader-milorad-dodik-likens-himself-to-david-cameron)    ()      Bosnian Serb leader likens himself to David Cameron in latest demands   (Friday, December 10, 2021 at 01:21 PM Eastern Standard Time) 10 Dec 2021           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/24/bosnia-and-surrounding-region-still-heading-for-crisis-says-top-official)    ()      Bosnia and surrounding region still heading for crisis, says top official   (Wednesday, November 24, 2021 at 03:37 PM Eastern Standard Time) 24 Nov 2021           (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/23/fire-destroys-migrant-camp-bosnia-lipa)    ()      Fire destroys migrant camp in Bosnia   (Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 11:16 AM Eastern Standard Time) 23 Dec 2020           (https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/dec/23/fire-burns-through-temporary-migrant-camp-bosnia-video)    ()      Fire burns through temporary migrant camp in Bosnia – video   (Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 10:26 AM Eastern Standard Time) 23 Dec 2020                        Most viewed      Most viewed                                                               (https://www.theguardian.com/world) World  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