Bosnia and Herzegovina imposes fines exceeding €100,000 — Balkan Insight
In a single session in Sarajevo, the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina imposed fines on political parties and candidates totaling more than €100,000. The sanctions were imposed for early campaigning and the misuse of public resources ahead of the elections scheduled for October 4.
As Balkan Insight reports, the largest sanctions were imposed on the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, led by Milorad Dodik. The party itself was fined approximately €41,900, while including sanctions against its candidates, the total amount reached about €52,700.
Violations cited by the commission
The election commission cited several serious violations of electoral legislation. These included using infrastructure projects for party benefit and involving children in political marketing.
Dodik was fined approximately €4,600 over an Instagram post. According to the publication, he directly credited his party for public works funded by taxpayers' money. State parliament member Sanja Vulić was fined €4,100: the commission pointed to inaccurate statements in the media and early campaigning during a television broadcast.
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Other fines and reaction
The coalition “Draško Stanivuković — Movement for a Safe Srpska” received the second-largest cumulative fine, about €13,000. Banja Luka Mayor Draško Stanivuković criticized the decision, stating that the sanctions were linked to presenting infrastructure projects to citizens and, in his view, were politically motivated.
The Social Democratic Party was fined €8,700, while Nedeljko Stevandić's United Srpska party was fined €7,200. Financial sanctions were also imposed on the Party of Democratic Action and a coalition of five Croatian parties.
Dario Jovanović, project manager at the Pod Lupom civic initiative for fair elections, believes that such fines will not stop ruling parties from using public resources. According to him, political forces may view these amounts as a minor and predictable expense.
