Sinisa Karan, a former minister for scientific and technological development in Republika Srpska, has narrowly won the presidential election in the Serb-majority entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The election was called after Milorad Dodik was removed from office over his refusal to comply with the rulings of international envoy Christian Schmidt, who oversees the Dayton Peace Agreement. Karan, the candidate of Dodik’s Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), secured about 51% of the vote, with his opponent Branko Blanusa earning around 48%. Turnout was approximately 36%, as per preliminary results.
The snap election followed a state court in Sarajevo convicting Dodik in February of failing to implement Schmidt’s decisions. Schmidt, a German national, has a strong mandate to oversee the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War. Dodik, who has branded Schmidt a ‘tourist’ and rejected the envoy’s authority, was sentenced to one year in prison—a term he avoided by paying a fine—and banned from public office for six years.
With the election results in, Karan pledged to continue Dodik’s policies with “ever greater force,” asserting that “the Serb people have won.” Dodik, now in exile, promised voters that “I will remain with you to fight for our political goals,” adding that Karan’s victory would be “my victory too.” Both leaders have consistently advocated for close ties with Russia, with Karan describing Moscow as “one of the greatest allies and friends of Srpska” and Dodik claiming the West was using Ukraine to provoke a war with Russia.