Alliance of Independent Social Democrats

Former Trump campaign associate Landon Tucker Davis attended an election campaign rally held by the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, the leading political party in Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska, on Monday evening in the Bosnian town of Derventa.

The US State Department on Monday barred Nikola Spiric, a Serb MP in Bosnia's state-level parliament, alleging that he has been involved in "significant corruption or gross violations of human rights".

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.

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.

RS Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic will be Dodik's SNSD party candidate to replace him as president of the Serb entity.

The general elections in BiH will be held on October 7.

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. 

Pro-Russian politicians from the Balkans have congratulated Vladimir Putin after he won more than 74 per cent of the vote in Sunday's presidential elections - while leaders of some other Balkan countries more closely aligned with NATO remained silent.

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.