Il Nuovo Postiglione - Bosnian Serb strongman claims election win, thanks Trump and Putin

It was the first major declaration for a dizzying number of posts to be decided in the general elections in a complex system that has held the partitioned Balkan country together since the 1995 peace deal.

The key race is for the tripartite presidency, split between Bosnian Muslims or Bosniaks, and the Serb and Croat ethnic groups. Dodik's Serb nationalists ran on a platform of greater autonomy and secessionist rhetoric.

"If it had not been for Donald Trump's magnificent victory... we would probably be political corpses today," he told supporters in Banja Luka, in a speech also thanking close ally Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"But now, thanks to the new environment, we are political winners," he added.

The 67-year-old us not on the ballot after being convicted of overstepping his powers and banned from the presidency for six years. But he remains a central figure in the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska.

Electoral officials said 95 percent of ballots had been counted, showing his candidate, Zeljka Cvijanovic, on track to retain her spot in the presidency, while Bosniak presidential incumbent Denis Becirovic was also ahead.

Bosnian Croat nationalist candidate Darijana Filipovic was leading for the Croat presidential seat.

Dodik's party was also projected to retain power in the entity's parliament and local presidency by a large margin.

The US-brokered Dayton agreement ended the 1992-1995 conflict but entrenched divisions that often paralyse decision-making.

It divided Bosnia into two semi-autonomous entities -- the Serb-run RS and a Muslim-Croat federation -- linked by a weak central government.

- Low turnout -

The major parties' repeated focus on war-era rhetoric of ethnic division frustrated some voters, who hoped for candidates to address economic concerns in one of Europe's poorest countries.

Economist Merima Cerim Karisik, voting in a northern Sarajevo suburb, told AFP she hoped for change and a turn away from the tired politics of the past.

"That what we have seen over the past 30 years will finally come to an end," she said.

Amela Hadzic, after casting her ballot at the same polling station, said it felt like the country had gone backwards recently.

"I hope people have seen that things cannot go on like this. I doubt there will be any major changes, but hopefully things will at least get better, however little," Hadzic said.

With the debut of biometric identification and the scanning of paper ballots at thousands of polling stations, authorities said technical issues had caused voting to be extended at some stations, but there were no reports of major incidents.

Turnout dropped nearly 10 percentage points from the last election in 2022, to around 42 percent, according to official figures.

- No progress on EU goals -

In the Muslim-Croat federation, frontrunner Becirovic advocates a path toward the European Union and NATO.

But if Dodik's party returns to the presidency, it would almost certainly mean the political deadlock that has blocked the necessary reforms for years would remain.

Croat nationalist parties are also pushing for electoral reform. They want a greater say in choosing the Croat member of the presidency in the entity they share with the more numerous Bosniaks.

O.R.Lucchese--INP