Milorad Dodik\u2019s party retains its influence in Republika Srpska and keeps the Serb seat in the national presidency<\/p>\n
Milorad Dodik, the former president of Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has celebrated his party\u2019s performance in Sunday\u2019s general election.
\nThe Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) is set to retain its lead in the Republika Srpska parliament, keep the entity\u2019s presidency and hold on to the Serb seat in Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s three-member collective presidency, according to preliminary results released by the Election Commission after more than 90% of ballots had been counted. The party is projected to get roughly 40% of the seats in the regional legislature.
\nDodik himself was not on the ballot after being barred from holding public office over his 2025 conviction for defying Christian Schmidt, the German politician who at the time served as the international high representative overseeing implementation of the 1995 Dayton Agreement. Dodik argued that Schmidt lacked UN Security Council backing for the post and had abused the office to curb Republika Srpska\u2019s autonomy, leading to a bitter political standoff.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: US lifts sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader<\/p>\n
Speaking to supporters late Sunday, Dodik thanked voters for backing SNSD and its allies, declaring that \u201cno one should ask us to change our politics.\u201d He also praised US President Donald Trump\u2019s 2024 election victory and thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for supporting the Serb entity.
\nFormer Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose sovereignist politics have often aligned with Dodik\u2019s, hailed the result as a \u201cgrand slam\u201d for SNSD.<\/p>\n
Grand slam! Congratulations to President @MiloradDodik and all our friends at SNSD – especially President Cvijanovi\u0107 and President Mini\u0107 – on sweeping today\u2019s elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.<\/p>\n
A strong mandate to continue standing up for the interests and rights of Republika Srpska.\u2014 Orb\u00e1n Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) October 5, 2026<\/p>\n
More than 3 million people were eligible to vote in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They chose representatives on multiple levels from the ten cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina up to the national presidency. The country used biometric voter identification and ballot scanners for the first time in an effort to streamline voting and counting.
\nDodik ally Zeljka Cvijanovic and Croat nationalist politician Darijana Filipovic are on course to join incumbent Bosniak presidency member Denis Becirovic in leading the Balkan country, whose political system is divided along ethnic and religious lines.
\nSavo Minic is set to become the next president of Republika Srpska, succeeding Sinisa Karan, another SNSD member.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Can small nations survive in a world of civilizational giants?<\/p>\n
Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s complex system of government was established under the Dayton Agreement in a bid to balance the interests of its constituent peoples and prevent a return to the violence that engulfed the Balkans during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Milorad Dodik\u2019s party retains its influence in Republika Srpska and keeps the Serb seat in the national presidency Milorad Dodik, the former president of Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t