Becirovic retains Bosniak presidency seat as Filipovic wins Croat post in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Denis Becirovic has secured another term as the Bosniak member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite Presidency, while Darijana Filipovic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) has won the Croat seat, according to preliminary election results.Figures from the Central Election Commission covering 100 percent of regular polling stations showed Becirovic winning 207,281 votes, defeating Bakir Izetbegovic of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), who took 184,602.In the Croat contest, Filipovic secured 106,984 votes, unseating the incumbent alignment held by Zeljko Komsic, ahead of Slaven Kovacevic on 70,167.Incumbent Zeljka Cvijanovic of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) led the Serb member race."Our path toward the European Union and membership in NATO must be resolutely continued," Becirovic said after declaring victory, urging Brussels to offer stronger backing and insisting that peace in southeastern Europe underpins wider European stability.Izetbegovic conceded defeat, though he noted the SDA improved its parliamentary share by roughly 25 percent.Republika Srpska outcomesIn the Republika Srpska entity, SNSD candidate Savo Minic led the presidential race with 202,245 votes over Serb Democratic Party rival Branko Blanusa on 160,936.SNSD leader Milorad Dodik declared a sweep across entity and state levels, linking his party's position to US President Donald Trump's victory.Dodik reiterated demands for a return to the "original Dayton" framework, calling for powers over the armed forces, border police, intelligence services, and indirect taxation to revert from state institutions to Republika Srpska.Sunday's election marked the first nationwide deployment of biometric identification, electronic ballot scanners, and surveillance across polling stations.Election Commission President Jovan Kalaba confirmed the scanners operated without disruption, allowing preliminary returns to emerge within an hour of polling stations closing.Overall voter turnout dropped sharply to 41.48 percent among the 3.4 million registered electorate, a decrease of 9.97 percentage points compared to the 51.45 percent recorded in the 2022 general elections, representing approximately 319,000 fewer ballots cast.