Bosnia’s political future looks increasingly like its past

Journalist and editor from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latest general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, held on October 4, repeated a pattern familiar from most electoral contests over the past three decades. The decisive victory of parties organised largely along ethnic lines – which many would rightly describe as nationalist – came as no surprise. It is therefore difficult to disagree with analysts and experts who say the country has been set back 30 years and faces an even grimmer future. The last two years have seen arguably the greatest crisis of the post-war period, and the results of Sunday’s elections offer little hope for improvement in the coming years.