European Contexts — Hybrid Panel
With Nermina Kuloglija-Zolj
(journalist, BIRN, Sarajevo), Damjan Ožegović (senior researcher, Transparency International, Banja Luka), Elvedin Nezirović
(writer, author and poet, Mostar), and Wolfgang Petritsch (Austrian diplomat and former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vienna).
When: 23 September 2026, 9:30–11:30
Where:
Presseclub Concordia, Bankgasse 8, 1010 Vienna, and online
In person registraion!
Zoom participation!
Background
General elections are scheduled to be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina
on 4 October 2026. They will determine the composition of the Presidency
as well as governments at the national, entity and cantonal levels.
Some 3.4 million voters will elect 518 representatives at different
administrative and political levels.
According to the Central Election Commission, 48,074 voters
from the Bosnian diaspora have registered to vote. More than two million
Bosnians live abroad, depending on how belonging to the Bosnian
diaspora is defined.
Thirty years after the end of the war, Bosnian politicians have
largely failed to offer alternatives to ethnic narratives and
nationalism. While the country remains mired in corruption and nepotism,
as well as allegations of electoral manipulation, the nationalist
narratives embodied by the main political parties continue to dominate
the political landscape.
At the same time, the Trump administration in the United States has
shown direct political and economic interest in the country. What could
the consequences be?
What is at stake in these elections, both domestically and internationally?
European Contexts speakers will address these political challenges
from three different regional and administrative perspectives —
Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Mostar — while Wolfgang Petritsch will examine
past and present international interests in the country.
Speakers
Nermina Kuloglija-Zolj is an award-winning
journalist at the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Bosnia and
Herzegovina (BIRN BiH). She has worked in journalism for nearly a
decade, investigating extremism, terrorism, genocide denial, corruption
and far-right movements in Bosnia and Herzegovina and across the Western
Balkans.
In 2020, together with the BIRN BiH team, she received the European
Press Prize Special Award for investigative reporting. She lives in
Sarajevo.
Damjan Ožegović is a senior research associate for
legal affairs at Transparency International in Banja Luka. His work
focuses on elections and political party financing, freedom of access to
information, conflicts of interest and the use of public resources.
He collaborates with OSCE and Council of Europe election observation
missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and leads Transparency
International's legal team during pre-election periods, documenting and
reporting on the misuse of public resources and other irregularities.
Elvedin Nezirović is a writer, poet and essayist
from Mostar. He has published three collections of poetry, a collection
of short stories, four novels and a book of essays. He is the recipient
of numerous literary awards in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He is the recipient of the Balkan literary award Predrag Matvejević and the Builder of Peace (Mimar mira)
award from the Center for Peace and Multiethnic Cooperation in Mostar
for his overall contribution to peacebuilding, coexistence and
interethnic trust in the post-war period.
He previously served as director of the Pavarotti Music Center and currently works there as an expert advisor.
Nezirović is a member of the P.E.N. Center of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Wolfgang Petritsch is President of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs and President of the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation.
A retired career diplomat, Petritsch served as the EU's Special Envoy
for Kosovo (1998–1999), the EU's chief negotiator at the Kosovo peace
talks in Rambouillet and Paris (1999), and High Representative for
Bosnia and Herzegovina (1999–2002).
He served as Austrian Ambassador to the UN in Geneva (2002–2008) and
to the OECD in Paris (2008–2013) and was the Joseph A. Schumpeter Fellow
at Harvard University (2013–2014). Full CV
Format
Panel discussion followed by a live Q&A session.
Moderator
Mirjana Tomic, fjum / Presseclub Concordia
Target group
Journalists and academic researchers
Maximum number of participants
In person: 70
Online:
100