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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Monthly Event Reports

April 2023 | OHR moves to unblock government formation in the Federation

Government formation in the Federation has now been finalised, seven months after the elections in October 2022. Refik Lendo, Bosniak Vice President and member of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) had been blocking the appointment of the new government (which does not have any SDA ministers). The Office of the High Representative (OHR) used its “Bonn powers”, granted to the OHR by the Dayton Accords, to forward the proposed ministerial appointments to the Parliament without first obtaining Lendo’s signature. The House of Representatives subsequently confirmed the government composition, with 51 votes in favour, and one abstention. The OHR also accorded the Parliament a period of 12 months to agree to constitutional amendments that would prevent future blockages in government formation. The previous ministers in the Federation government had been serving in a technical mandate since 2018 in view of the protracted political stalemate.

March 2023 | Attack on LGBTQIA+ activists in Banja Luka

Police banned planned LGBTQIA+ events in Banja Luka, the administrative centre of the Republika Srpska entity, citing security concerns. On the day the events were scheduled, a mob attacked activists, including BiH Pride representatives, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and journalists. Three activists required medical attention as a result of the attack. BiH Pride representatives have alleged that law enforcement present at the attack failed to intervene. Earlier in the month, at an International Women’s Day march in Banja Luka, protesters were attacked for carrying a rainbow flag. Hate crimes in Republika Srpska have been on the rise in recent years, and official data collection remains sparse.

January 2023 | Parade flouts Constitutional Court ruling

A parade was held in Eastern Sarajevo in honour of Statehood Day of Republika Srpska (RS), which commemorates the Bosnian Serbs’ declaration of a breakaway region in 1992. This event sparked the Bosnian war. Statehood Day is celebrated annually despite being banned by the country’s Constitutional Court (established through the Dayton Accords) in 2015 for being discriminatory against non-Serbs. The Court also deemed illegal a 2016 referendum and the passage of legislation in RS asserting the entity’s right to celebrate the occasion. Heavily armed Bosnian Serb police, war veterans and fascist organisations marched in the parade, stoking tensions between Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two entities. This year, the parade was moved from Banja Luka, the de facto capital of RS, to only kilometres from the state capital Sarajevo, a choice deemed by the European Parliament as, “an additional and particularly cynical provocative act.” 

December 2022 | First female Prime Minister appointed

The state presidency elected Borjana Kristo as the Chair of the Council of Ministers, making her poised to become Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first female head of government. A multi-ethnic coalition agreement was also endorsed in only three months, a feat which took over a year following the 2018 elections. The coalition includes Kristo’s Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party and the Serb nationalist party, Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), led by the pro-Russian Milorad Dodik. It excludes the Bosniak nationalist party, Party of Democratic Action (SDA), for the first time since 2014, as opposition parties joined forces to mount a challenge. This cracked the door open for civic and multi-ethnic parties at the state level, including Our Party, which seeks to reverse the historical emphasis on nationalist parties in the political system and enters the national government for the first time. Kristo has emphasised a focus on every day economic issues, and has urged respect for the diversity and rights of each of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constituent peoples.

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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022

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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
3 263 460
System of government
Parliamentary system
Head of government
Prime Minister Zoran Tegeltija (since 2019)
Head of government party
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD)
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
List Proportional Representation
Women in lower or single chamber
26.2%
Women in upper chamber
20.0%
Last legislative election
2022
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
10.68
Head of state
Chairperson of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željka Cvijanović, Denis Bećirović, Željko Komšić
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (plurality)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
13/11/2019
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
98.55%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
State Party
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
State Party
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
in
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Attributes Over Time

Representative government neutral Representation
Dec 2022
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Representative government neutral Rights
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Representative government neutral Participation
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Representative government neutral Rule of law
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GSoD Indices

Factors of Democracy
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