Pro-Russian Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik has been elected to the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pro-Russian Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has been elected to the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His moderate opponent Mladen Ivanić conceded defeat.
Bosnia's three-member presidency is formed of Serb, Bosniak and Croat representatives.
Known for his close ties with Russia, Dodik stated that Serbs would be his priority.
His election is expected to make cooperation with the country's other communities more difficult.
On the Bosnian side, Šefik Džaferović is elected the Bosniak member, while moderate Croat politician Zeljko Komsic gained 49.5% of the vote, overtaking nationalist Dragan Čović, and completes the trio as the Croat member.
Poverty and corruption plague the country, while in the run-up to elections candidates bet on nationalism in a bid to make political gains.
Bosnia is a country with sharp ethnic divisions and experienced a devastating ethnic war between 1992 and 1995, which saw over 100,000 people lose their lives and left millions homeless.
In order to put an end to the war, the US-brokered a peace deal, installing a complicated network of overarching institutions, including the tripartite presidency, a Council of Ministers — the country's de facto government — as well as multiple assemblies.
The country's Presidency is collective and elects one Bosnian (Muslim), one Serb (Orthodox) and one Croat (Catholic).
