Polling began in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday, with around 3.4 million voters eligible to take part in the Balkan country's general election.
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voters → begin → election
Citizens are electing officials across multiple tiers of government, including members of the multiethnic, tripartite presidency.
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Citizens → elect → presidency
They will also choose 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.
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They → choose → Bosnia
The election comes at a time when the country is struggling with a number of challenges.
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country → come → 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.
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that → be → 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.
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parties → see → Party
Polls close at 7 p.m. local time (1700 GMT), with preliminary results expected to be released late Sunday.
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results → close → p.m.
What is the system that governs Bosnia-Herzegovina?
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that → govern → Herzegovina
The economic, administrative and political responsibilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are divided between the multiethnic central government, the self-governing neutral Brcko district and the two semi-autonomous entities.
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responsibilities → divide → government
Both entities are further split into several cantons and communities.
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entities → split → cantons
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.
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which → divide → 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.
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% → simmer → populace
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.
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they → keep → rhetoric
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.
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Dodik → remain → 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.
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Dodik → bar → Serbia
He has just returned from Moscow where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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he → return → 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.
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Dodik → tell → Friday
What is happening in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina?
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What → happen → Bosnia
In the Muslim-Croat federation, Bosniak parties are advocating for a stronger central state.
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parties → advocate → state
The main Bosniak SDA party is focused on efforts to keep the country united against Serb separatism.
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party → focus → separatism
Bosnian Croats are also largely backing their ethnic parties, including the Bosnian branch of Croatia's ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union.
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Croats → back → Union
Meanwhile, Denis Becirovic, the incumbent Bosniak presidency member, has vowed a renewed path to the EU and NATO.
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Becirovic → vow → EU
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.
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start → depend → laws
Edited by: Natalie Muller
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you → edit → news
The Aporia
