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Europe

The Latest: Muslim candidate in Bosnia urges EU integration

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Bosnian Muslim candidate for Bosnian Presidency, Party for Democratic Action (SDA), Sefik Dzaferovic cast his vote at a polling station in Zenica, 100 kms. (62 miles) north of Sarajevo, Bosnia, on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018. Bosnians decide in a tense election this weekend whether to cement the ethnic divisions stemming from the 1992-95 war by supporting nationalist politicians or push for changes that would pave the way toward European Union and NATO integration. (AP Photo/STR)

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    A Bosnian woman casts his vote at poling station in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018. Polls have opened in Bosnia for a general election that could install a pro-Russian nationalist to a top post and cement ethnic divisions drawn in a brutal war more than 20 years ago. Sunday's vote is seen as a test of whether Bosnia will move toward integration in the European Union and NATO or remain entrenched in war-era rivalries. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina – The Latest on Bosnia's general election (all times local):

11 a.m.

A leading Muslim candidate for Bosnia's three-person presidency says he is confident of a victory and expects the country to move forward after the election.

Sefik Dzaferovic said upon casting his ballot Sunday "I expect massive support from all citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina." He says Bosnia needs "stability, economic prosperity and (EU) integration."

He says politicians in Bosnia must start working "as early as tomorrow ... to form governments at all levels and begin fulfilling the above-mentioned goals."

Dzeferovic is from the Muslim Party of Democratic Action, or SDA. If he wins, Dzaferovic will replace the party leader Bakir Izetbegovic in the Bosnian presidency that also has a Serb and a Croat member.

Bosnia consists of a Serb regional government and a Muslim-Croat one tied loosely by central institutions, including the presidency.

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8 a.m.

Bosnians were voting Sunday in a general election that could install a pro-Russian nationalist to a top post and cement the ethnic divisions of a country that faced a brutal war 25 years ago.

The ballot is seen as a test of whether Bosnia will move toward integration in the European Union and NATO or remain entrenched in rivalries stemming from the 1992-95 war.

Some 3.3 million people are eligible to vote for an array of institutions in Bosnia's complex governing system, which was created by a peace accord that ended the war that killed 100,000 people and left millions homeless.

The country consists of a Serb regional government and a similar Muslim-Croat entity joined in a central government. Voters are casting ballots for the three-person Bosnian presidency, the Serb president, and the two entities' parliaments and cantonal authorities.

The main focus is on the race for Bosnia's three-member presidency, because of the candidacy of hard-line Serb President Milorad Dodik, who advocates eventual Serb separation from Bosnia. Dodik is a key Balkan ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his victory would mean stronger Russian influence.