Most political leaders from Bosnia and Herzegovina congratulated the “Students’ List” on its victory in the Serbian parliamentary elections – including Milorad Dodik – though no such congratulations came from Dragan Čović (HDZ) or Željko Komšić (DF).
In his congratulatory message, the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Denis Bećirović, stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina respects the democratically expressed will of the citizens of Serbia. He added that he hopes the new government in Belgrade will work toward improving cooperation with BiH and other countries in the region.
SDA President Bakir Izetbegović offered his congratulations via Facebook the day after the election, emphasizing that it is particularly important for relations between BiH and Serbia to be built on the principles of mutual respect and equality, with full adherence to international law.
SNSD leader Milorad Dodik congratulated the “Students’ List” on election night itself, even though he awaited the results at the campaign headquarters of the “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia” list.
Congratulations were also extended by the Serb member of the BiH Presidency, Željka Cvijanović, and the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Savo Minić.
A congratulatory message also arrived from the SDS; its president, Branko Blanuša, noted that the election result demonstrates that perseverance and the desire for a more just society are powerful messages deserving of deep respect.
SDP President and Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, Nermin Nikšić, included in his congratulations the expectation that Belgrade would adopt a new approach toward Bosnia and Herzegovina. Semir Efendić, president of the Party for BiH (Stranka za BiH), wrote that students in Serbia had “achieved the impossible” by ousting Vučić through peaceful means. He added that he hopes the new administration will move away from the policy toward neighboring countries that Vučić had pursued.
HDZ leader Dragan Čović has previously made a habit of congratulating Aleksandar Vučić on his electoral victories – consistently doing so the day after the elections. On April 4, 2022 – the day following the previous elections in Serbia – Čović, in his capacity as Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, congratulated Vučić on securing a new presidential term and acknowledged the results achieved by the SNS. The same pattern occurred five years earlier: on April 3, 2017 – the day after the elections – Čović, then a member of the Presidency of BiH, congratulated Vučić on his victory.
Conversely, Komšić has not made a practice of congratulating Vučić; in this regard, his silence concerning the election results in Serbia stands in contrast to Čović’s approach.
From within the region, among the first to congratulate the students were Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković – who spoke by phone with Ilija Srdanović, the lead candidate of the “Student List” – and the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović.
In a joint statement, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated the “Student List,” affirming that the EU stands ready to support Serbia on its European path, Klix.ba writes.
