Bosnia and Herzegovina holds general election amid ethnic divisions and EU aspirations

Polls closed in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday evening, with around 3.4 million voters eligible to take part in the Balkan country's general election.

Citizens voted for officials across multiple tiers of government, including members of the multiethnic, tripartite presidency.

With counting underway, Serb nationalist Zeljka ​Cvijanovic, Bosniak moderate leftist Denis Becirovic and Croat nationalist ‌Darijana ​Filipovic each took an early lead in for the presdential seats of their respective ethnicities.

Cvijanovic had been backed by the Republika Srpska's former secessionist leader ​Milorad Dodik who is barred from holding public office for six years after being convicted of defying the top international envoy overseeing the 1995 peace process.

Voters also chose lawmakers for the federal parliament and the heads of institutions for the country's two largely autonomous entities — the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serb-run Republika Srpska.

The election comes at a time when the country is struggling with a number of challenges. There's been an economic slowdown, sluggish progress toward EU membership, and a long-drawn-out political gridlock, with the ethnically based dominant parties from the two entities repeatedly stalling decisions by the weak central government that links them.

The election will see adversary ethnic parties, the Bosniak ​SDA, Serb SNSD and Croat HDZ BiH, pitted against multi-ethnic opposition coalitions led by the Social Democratic Party.

Polls closed at 7 p.m. local time (1700 GMT), with preliminary results expected to be released late Sunday.

What is the system that governs Bosnia-Herzegovina?

The economic, administrative and political responsibilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are divided between the multiethnic central government, two semi-autonomous entities, and the self-governing neutral Brcko district.

Both entities are further split into several cantons and communities.

The complicated framework — divided along ethnic lines — was set up during the US-brokered 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, following the 1992-95 Bosnian war which was triggered by the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Simmering ethnic tensions

Currently in Bosnia and Herzegovina's populace, around half are Muslim Bosniaks, while 31% are Orthodox Serb and 15% are Catholic Croat.

The country has been peaceful in recent years but its ethnonationalist parties have kept the divisions alive even as voters say they want to move on from the war-era rhetoric and division.

Milorad Dodik not on the ballot but still dominant in Republika Srpska

In Republika Srpska, secessionist leader ​Milorad Dodik of the SNSD party remains the key figure despite not being on the ballot.

Dodik, the former president of the Serb-majority entity, is barred from holding public office for six years after being convicted of defying the top international envoy overseeing the 1995 peace process.

Dodik-backed Savo Minic is running for the Republika Srpska's presidency.

Dodik wants close ‌ties with Serbia and Russia. He has just returned from Moscow where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina is dead, it is an impossible country," Dodik told supporters at the final rally of his in Banja Luka on Friday.

What is happening in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

In the Muslim-Croat federation, Bosniak parties are advocating for a stronger central state.

The main Bosniak SDA party is focused on efforts to keep the country united against Serb separatism.

Bosnian Croats are also largely backing their ethnic parties, including the Bosnian branch of Croatia's ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union.

Meanwhile, Denis Becirovic, the incumbent Bosniak presidency member, has vowed a renewed path to the EU and NATO.

EU ambitions

Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a candidate for EU membership since 2022.

But the actual start of membership talks depends on the prior implementation of numerous reforms, including strengthening judicial oversight and passing anti-corruption ​laws.

Edited by: Natalie Muller