„Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Competing Nationalist Narratives or Programs for Solving Problems?“

European Contexts — Hybrid Panel
With Nermina Kuloglija-Zolj (journalist, BIRN, Sarajevo), Damjan Ožegović (senior researcher, Transparency International, Banja Luka), Elvedin Nezirović (writer, author and poet, Mostar), and Wolfgang Petritsch (Austrian diplomat and former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vienna).

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Background
General elections are scheduled to be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 4 October 2026. They will determine the composition of the Presidency as well as governments at the national, entity and cantonal levels. Some 3.4 million voters will elect 518 representatives at different administrative and political levels.

According to the Central Election Commission, 48,074 voters from the Bosnian diaspora have registered to vote. More than two million Bosnians live abroad, depending on how belonging to the Bosnian diaspora is defined.

Thirty years after the end of the war, Bosnian politicians have largely failed to offer alternatives to ethnic narratives and nationalism. While the country remains mired in corruption and nepotism, as well as allegations of electoral manipulation, the nationalist narratives embodied by the main political parties continue to dominate the political landscape.

At the same time, the Trump administration in the United States has shown direct political and economic interest in the country. What could the consequences be?

What is at stake in these elections, both domestically and internationally?

European Contexts speakers will address these political challenges from three different regional and administrative perspectives — Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Mostar — while Wolfgang Petritsch will examine past and present international interests in the country.

Speakers
Nermina Kuloglija-Zolj is an award-winning journalist at the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH). She has worked in journalism for nearly a decade, investigating extremism, terrorism, genocide denial, corruption and far-right movements in Bosnia and Herzegovina and across the Western Balkans.
In 2020, together with the BIRN BiH team, she received the European Press Prize Special Award for investigative reporting. She lives in Sarajevo.
Damjan Ožegović is a senior research associate for legal affairs at Transparency International in Banja Luka. His work focuses on elections and political party financing, freedom of access to information, conflicts of interest and the use of public resources.
He collaborates with OSCE and Council of Europe election observation missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and leads Transparency International’s legal team during pre-election periods, documenting and reporting on the misuse of public resources and other irregularities.
Elvedin Nezirović is a writer, poet and essayist from Mostar. He has published three collections of poetry, a collection of short stories, four novels and a book of essays. He is the recipient of numerous literary awards in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He is the recipient of the Balkan literary award Predrag Matvejević and the Builder of Peace (Mimar mira) award from the Center for Peace and Multiethnic Cooperation in Mostar for his overall contribution to peacebuilding, coexistence and interethnic trust in the post-war period.
He previously served as director of the Pavarotti Music Center and currently works there as an expert advisor.
Nezirović is a member of the P.E.N. Center of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Wolfgang Petritsch is President of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs and President of the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation.
A retired career diplomat, Petritsch served as the EU’s Special Envoy for Kosovo (1998–1999), the EU’s chief negotiator at the Kosovo peace talks in Rambouillet and Paris (1999), and High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (1999–2002).
He served as Austrian Ambassador to the UN in Geneva (2002–2008) and to the OECD in Paris (2008–2013) and was the Joseph A. Schumpeter Fellow at Harvard University (2013–2014). Full CV

Moderator
Mirjana Tomic, fjum / Presseclub Concordia

Format
Panel discussion followed by a live Q&A session.