Milorad Dodik declares victory for his party in Bosnia election amid ethnic tensions

Bosnian Serb nationalist politician Milorad Dodik has declared victory for his party in an election in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday that was 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 have 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 per cent of votes counted, Dodik’s ally Zeljka Cvijanovic of the right-wing Alliance of Independent Social Democrats had more than 55 per cent of votes to take one of the three seats in the country’s tripartite presidency, leading her nearest opponent by around 30 percentage points.