Bosniak and Croat Federation

But the threat posed by right-wing groups, such as the Ravna Gora Chetnik Movement, has been largely neglected.

Bakir Izetbegovic, the leader of the Party of Democratic Action, SDA and a member of the upper house of Bosnia's parliament, said on Tuesday that the leadership of the Bosnian Serbs will ultimately see the security value in joining NATO.

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.

Bosnia and Herzegovina entered its official pre-election campaign period on Friday, ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections that will be held on October 7.

A total of 3,352,933 registered voters may choose between 53 parties, 36 coalitions, and 34 independent candidates that have been confirmed as eligible to run by Bosnia's Central Election Commission.

The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has accused Bosnia's mainly Bosniak and Croat Federation entity of seizing more donations for flood relief than it was entitled to.

Dodik said the issue of forming a solidarity fund at state level in Bosnia and Herzegovina had become stuck - and he rejected the idea of simply dividing the donations by half.

Human Rights Watch on February 21 said the authorities in Bosnia should investigate the excessive use of force by police during the protests in the country, as well as attacks on journalists.