Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić met on Saturday in Belgrade with Milorad Dodik, the leader of Bosnia’s Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), a day before voters in Republika Srpska head to the polls for a presidential election triggered by Dodik’s removal from office.
Vučić announced the meeting on Instagram, saying the two discussed “many important issues” and that he had reviewed with Dodik “key topics of relevance for regional stability and for advancing cooperation between Serbia and Republika Srpska.” He did not provide details.
The talks took place during an electoral silence period in Republika Srpska, which began at 7 a.m. on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s presidential vote.
Bosnia’s Central Election Commission (CIK) called early elections after revoking Dodik’s mandate earlier this year, following a final ruling by the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina that sentenced him to one year in prison and barred him from holding public office for six years.
Dodik’s party has nominated Siniša Karan as its candidate. Other contenders include Branko Blanuša of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), Dragan Đokanović of the Alliance for a New Politics, Nikola Lazarević of the Srpska Ecological Party, and two independents, Igor Gašević and Slavko Dragičević. Analysts expect the race to narrow largely to Blanuša and Karan.
Vučić, who maintains close political ties with Dodik, has regularly framed relations with Republika Srpska as essential to Serbia’s regional role, even as Dodik’s confrontation with Sarajevo and repeated defiance of Bosnia’s institutions have deepened political instability.
The timing of the meeting is likely to draw scrutiny in Bosnia, where critics accuse Belgrade of tacitly backing Dodik’s political agenda and influencing Republika Srpska’s internal affairs at a moment of heightened political tension.