International peace envoy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, High Representative Christian Schmidt, used his executive powers on Tuesday and announced a decision to impose changes to electoral legislation, introducing technical improvements to the election process, which will, as he said, ensure "fair and free" elections for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The move sparked different reactions in the country, with the Bosnian Serb leadership objecting it.

Foreign Affairs Minister and leader of the People and Justice Party Elmedin Konakovic was among the first officials to comment on the decision, welcoming the move by the High Representative.

“The protection of the electoral integrity is an important process for democracy in our country. Let the voters make decisions, and not those who count the votes,” said Konakovic briefly.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP), also part of the ruling coalition alongside Konakovic's People and Justice party, urged all political actors to accept the High Representative's decision as a positive step forward and to “work together on other issues, whose solving is needed for Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to the European Union.”

High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina imposed changes to Election Law

The SDP also said that the parties of the Troika coalition – the ruling Bosniak-majority coalition in the Federation entity, which are part of the ruling coalition at the state level, were offering solutions and seeking compromise in the talks on changes to electoral legislations, and that they will continue doing so in all other processes.

“Although there is a regret that the election integrity package was not passed by local actors, the introduction of modern technologies is a significant step that must be welcomed,” the party said.

The third of the Troika coalition parties, the Our Party said this was an important decision for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Going against these changes “only speaks about the intentions of those who oppose it, because in this way they show they use irregularities during the election process, to illegally gain the political power.”

The US Embassy also welcomed the decision to “adopt legislation to strengthen election integrity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“We regret that not all of the parties engaged in good faith or made a genuine commitment to election integrity. Their failure is why the HR had to act. It is vital to ensure that elections are free and fair and that BiH citizens know that their ballots will be counted as they were cast,” the embassy posted on X platform.

The officials in the Serb-majority part of BiH, Republika Srpska entity, whose officials mostly do not recognise Schmidt as the High Representative, strongly objected his decision.

“Whenever the representatives of the people in BiH make a step forward, Schmidt takes us three steps backwards. This is a slap to the democratic process and European path of BiH, and a big slap to the EU,” said Zeljka Cvijanovic the Serb member of BiH tripartite Presidency and senior official of the SNSD, the ruling party in Republika Srpska.

She said that this will “further complicate the political situation in BiH, which was obviously Schmidt's idea.”

Nenad Stevandic, the Speaker of RS entity parliament, said the imposing of laws in BiH is “unacceptable” and that Republika Srpska rejects something like that “in principle.”