Alliance of Independent Social Democrats

As Bosnia's election campaign begins in earnest, Milorad Dodik's own campaign to win the Serbian seat on the Bosnian presidency is receiving support from the government of nearby Serbia.

Social media may play a huge part in political life in the US and other countries - but the top politicians running for office in Bosnia's upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in October don't seem that interested in Facebook or Twitter.

Fan pages reveal that some key politicians do not use Facebook at all.

The US embassy in Bosnia told BIRN on Monday that American sanctions on Milorad Dodik could not be removed easily, despite local media reports that the US would soon lift a travel and property embargo against the Bosnian Serb leader.

As Bosnia's politicians prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections in October this year, many of them are wooing voters with promises of big pay hikes.

The government of Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska, RS, has said it will take measures to increase salaries in the entity, with strong support from the RS President, Milorad Dodik.

Three major Bosnian Serb opposition parties, along with six other political groups, joined forces on Monday in an attempt to defeat the coalition centred around Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, which has been in power in the entity for 12 years.

Milorad Dodik, president of Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska, and the head of its ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, is attending a three-day Economic Forum in St Petersburg where he will meet President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Dodik's office said. 

The 41-year-old leader of the Serbian Democratic Party from the pro-EU Alliance for Changes is positioning himself as the catalyst to end the Alliance of  Independent Social Democrats' nearly 12-year-long hold on power.

Moves by the authorities in Bosnia's mainly Serbian entity to beef up the entity's police force have caused jitters in the deeply divided c0untry.

As Bosnia starts preparing for autumn general elections, only one candidate's name is known for now, that of Mladen Ivanic.

The current member of Bosnia's state presidency will be the candidate of the main opposition bloc in the country's mainly Serbian entity, Republika Srpska, the Alliance for Changes.

Bosnia's Foreign Ministry on Monday confirmed that Milica Markovic, an MP in the House of Representatives and a member of parliament's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was being investigated for possible corruption.