Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

West fears Karadzic triumph in Bosnian Serb election

Sunday 23 November 1997 19:02 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Bosnia's poll organisers said they hoped parliamentary elections in Bosnian Serb territory would resolve a bitter power struggle between rival leaders.

President Biljana Plavsic, who is backed by the West, and hardline Serb nationalists loyal to the UN-indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic are struggling for control of the part of Bosnia left in Serb hands after the country's 1992-95 war.

Robert Frowick, the US diplomat who leads the election supervisory effort in Bosnia, said he expected the turnout to be "well over 50 per cent" of the 1.1 million registered voters.

A victory for the hardliners would deliver a humiliating blow to the US-led diplomatic drive to alter the political landscape in Serb territory. It would also allow the hardliners to flout the West's failure to extradite Karadzic to The Hague to stand trial before the UN war crimes tribunal.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in