Konakovic Conditions Serbian Citizens' Vote in Bosnia
Serbia's request for polling stations in Bosnia is on the agenda of an emergency session, and Minister Konakovic ties his consent to unblocking items from his ministry.
The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is meeting today in an emergency telephone session to consider a request from the Serbian embassy to open polling stations in Bosnia for Serbia’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 25. According to the Sarajevo portal Raport, as reported by N1, about 20,000 Serbian citizens with voting rights live in Bosnia. Until the Council of Ministers decides, they cannot vote, and the outcome of the session was not known at the time of publication.
How did the request reach the Council of Ministers?
The Serbian embassy in Bosnia sent a diplomatic note to the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 28. It informed Sarajevo of the October 25 elections and asked for consent to organize the vote and open polling stations in Bosnia.
Stasa Kosarac (SNSD), deputy chair of the Council of Ministers and minister of foreign trade and economic relations, requested an emergency session on October 16, with this as the only item on the agenda. He cites reciprocity: Bosnian citizens vote in Serbian elections, so Serbian citizens in Bosnia should have the same right, he says. He accuses Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic (NiP) of failing to forward the note to the Council of Ministers. Kosarac also said he will not back down from the request and that Republika Srpska will respond appropriately if the issue is not resolved.
On X, he wrote:
I expect the Council of Ministers of BiH to support this request, which would create the conditions for Serbian citizens to vote on the territory of BiH
According to Raport, as reported by N1, Chair Borjana Kristo (HDZ BiH) decided to put the disputed item on the agenda at Kosarac’s request. Zukan Helez (SDP BiH), the defense minister and deputy chair from the Bosniak ranks, confirmed to the Fena agency that the session had been scheduled.
Why does Konakovic refuse to agree without conditions?
On Monday, October 19, Konakovic told Fena that he had warned the Serbian authorities what would follow if the vote were organized outside Sarajevo’s institutions:
We are entering a very dangerous precedent. If Serbia by any chance decides to organize elections without the permission of the Council of Ministers or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have informed the Serbian authorities that, in line with my powers, we will send the people from the embassy home, everyone who does that before the elections
He also said the proposal would not get the support of the Bosniak ministers. He described the session as scheduled in an unusual way, because Kosarac asked Kristo to put forward material that falls under the Foreign Ministry’s remit. “The voting of Serbian citizens in BiH is the competence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Konakovic said.
His condition is the unblocking of about ten items of that ministry which, he claims, SNSD has been blocking for months. They include:
- the salary base for Bosnia’s diplomatic and consular missions for 2026
- consent to the appointment of the Swiss defense attache based in Belgrade, Colonel Thierry Bernard Ghislain Jeanty, with accreditation for Bosnia
- the reconstruction of the mission in Madrid
- the purchase of premises for the missions in Rome and the Vatican
“They are blocking this out of spite,” Konakovic said. He added that he had proposed unblocking everything and allowing the vote on October 25 at the same time, but that SNSD representatives did not accept that approach: “We proposed that we unblock all of it and let the vote go ahead as well. However, they decided to take a different path. Tomorrow that item will not have the support of the Bosniak ministers and cannot pass.”
How many sessions will be held, and when?
The portal Vijesti.ba reports that the ministers from the Serb ranks agreed on Monday evening to unblock the Foreign Ministry’s items. According to Radiosarajevo, that would mean two sessions: the first, the 88th emergency telephone session, which Kristo scheduled for 3 p.m., with the items proposed by the Foreign Ministry, and the second, at Kosarac’s request, with the single item on the vote of Serbian citizens. Citing its own sources, Radiosarajevo also claims that Serbia pressured SNSD to accept Konakovic’s proposal.
The sources differ on the hour. BIGportal reports that the session on Serbia’s request is scheduled for 9 a.m., while RTRS and Radiosarajevo say the second session comes after the one at 3 p.m. The exact time therefore cannot be confirmed.
What does Milorad Dodik say?
SNSD leader Milorad Dodik told RTRS that Konakovic does not respect Serbs as a constituent people and that Serbs have the right, and the wish, to vote. In his words, Konakovic does not represent the whole of Bosnia, and the threats of blocking the vote show how privatized the issue has become. He sent a message ahead of the session:
If the Council of Ministers does not do this, then we are entering a very difficult spiral of mutual misunderstandings that brings nothing good here in BiH. Let Konakovic decide what he will do
How many polling stations has Serbia already set up abroad?
The Republic Electoral Commission has designated a total of 93 polling stations in 39 countries, and according to Newsmax Balkans the largest number, 28, is in Bosnia. Voting abroad runs from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Serbian time. Whether the stations in Bosnia actually open depends on the consent that Sarajevo, five days before the vote, must either give or withhold.
