Bosnia and Herzegovina, General Elections, 4 October 2026

In accordance with its mandate, following an official invitation to observe the 4 October 2026 general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) from 5 to 7 May. The ODIHR NАМ included Kseniya Dashutsina, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser and Vittoria Zanellati, ODIHR Election Adviser. The NAM was joined by Sherif Abdili, Senior Adviser of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. 

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and the preparations for the general elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections, and if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions as well as with representatives of political parties, media, civil society, and international organizations. A list of meetings is annexed to this report. ODIHR would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina for their assistance and co-operation in organizing the NAM. ODIHR would also like to thank all of its interlocutors for taking the time to meet with the NAM and share their views.