BELGRADE, November 15. /TASS/. Newly elected President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik has been sworn into office, according to a press statement released on the official presidential website on Tuesday.
"President Elect of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik assumed the presidential office from Incumbent President of the Republic of Srpska Zelijka Cvijanovic in Banja Luka today," it said. "The ceremony was held after President Elect of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodi and newly elected Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zelijka Cvijanovic took an oath at a meeting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska."
Earlier, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Central Election Commission confirmed Dodik’s win in the October 2 presidential elections after a recount of the ballots.
Dodik won the election after 98.03% of the ballots had been counted, with 48.14% of votes. His rival, Jelena Trivic of the Party of Democratic Progress, scored 43.37% of votes. On the night of October 3, Dodik announced his victory and Trivic did the same. Later, Trivic, backed by Western embassies, began to organize protests.
After the elections, Dodik told TASS he had won despite the West’s interference. He also stressed that the Republic of Srpska would continue to cooperate with Russia and the West, which was irritated by his refusal to agree to Bosnia-Herzegovina’s accession to NATO, must respect this position. The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions against Dodik.