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Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Coat of arms of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg
Denis Bećirović at Palazzo del Quirinale, 2024.jpg Željka Cvijanović 2024 (cropped).jpg Željko Komšić 2023 (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Denis Bećirović
Željka Cvijanović
Željko Komšić

since 16 November 2022
Seat Presidency Building, Sarajevo
Appointer Direct election
Term length Four years
renewable once every individual term
Constituting instrument Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995)
First holder Alija Izetbegović
Momčilo Krajišnik
Krešimir Zubak
Salary 3,091 EUR per month

The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine / Предсједништво Босне и Херцеговине) is a special group of three people. They work together as the head of state for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Think of them as the country's main leaders.

The country's rules, called the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, say there must be three members. One member is from the Bosniak people, one from the Serb people, and one from the Croat people.

The Bosniak and Croat members are chosen by voters in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serb member is chosen by voters in Republika Srpska.

All three members are elected at the same time. They serve for four years. A person can be elected twice in a row. However, there is no limit to how many times someone can be a member in total.

Even though it's a team, one member is chosen to be the chairperson. This job rotates among the three members. Each person gets to be chairperson for eight months. The person who gets the most votes in the election becomes the first chairperson.

Who Are the Current Members?

As of July 2025, here are the people who are part of the Presidency:

Member Portrait Took office Party Representing Chairman terms
Denis Bećirović Denis Bećirović at Palazzo del Quirinale, 2024.jpg 16 November 2022
(1st term)
SDP BiH Bosniaks 16 March 2024 – 16 November 2024
Željka Cvijanović Željka Cvijanović 2024 (cropped).jpg 16 November 2022
(1st term)
SNSD Serbs 16 November 2022 – 16 July 2023
16 November 2024 – 16 July 2025
Željko Komšić Željko Komšić 2023 (cropped).jpg 20 November 2018
(4th term)
DF Croats 16 July 2023 – 16 March 2024
16 July 2025 – present

What Does the Presidency Do?

Presidency of BiH in Sarajevo 2023.01.29 1
The Presidency Building in central Sarajevo

The Presidency has many important jobs for the country.

Here are some of their main duties:

  • They handle how Bosnia and Herzegovina works with other countries. This is called foreign policy.
  • They choose ambassadors and other people to represent the country abroad. Most of these representatives come from the Federation part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • They represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in big groups like the United Nations or other international organizations. They also try to get the country to join new groups.
  • They make agreements with other countries. These agreements are called treaties. They need approval from the Parliamentary Assembly.
  • They make sure the decisions made by the Parliamentary Assembly are carried out.
  • They suggest a yearly budget to the Parliamentary Assembly. This budget shows how the government plans to spend money.
  • They report to the Parliamentary Assembly about how the Presidency has spent its money. They do this at least once a year.
  • They work with international and non-government groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina when needed.
  • They do other tasks that are necessary for their job. The Parliamentary Assembly can also give them more duties.

Past Members of the Presidency

This table shows the people who have been members of the Presidency since it started.

Term Election Members Party Ethnicity
1
(13 October 1996 – 12 October 1998)
1996 Alija Izetbegović SDA Bosniak
Momčilo Krajišnik SDS Serb
Krešimir Zubak HDZ BiH Croat
2
(13 October 1998 – 28 October 2002)
1998 Alija Izetbegović (until October 2000) SDA Bosniak
Halid Genjac (October 2000 – March 2001)
Beriz Belkić (from March 2001) SBiH
Živko Radišić SP Serb
Ante Jelavić (until March 2001) HDZ BiH Croat
Jozo Križanović (from March 2001) SDP BiH
3
(28 October 2002 – 6 November 2006)
2002 Sulejman Tihić SDA Bosniak
Mirko Šarović (until April 2003) SDS Serb
Borislav Paravac (from April 2003)
Dragan Čović (until May 2005) HDZ BiH Croat
Ivo Miro Jović (from May 2005)
4
(6 November 2006 – 10 November 2010)
2006 Haris Silajdžić SBiH Bosniak
Nebojša Radmanović SNSD Serb
Željko Komšić SDP BiH Croat
5
(10 November 2010 – 17 November 2014)
2010 Bakir Izetbegović SDA Bosniak
Nebojša Radmanović SNSD Serb
Željko Komšić SDP BiH (until 2012) Croat
DF (from 2013)
6
(17 November 2014 – 20 November 2018)
2014 Bakir Izetbegović SDA Bosniak
Mladen Ivanić PDP Serb
Dragan Čović HDZ BiH Croat
7
(20 November 2018 – 16 November 2022)
2018 Šefik Džaferović SDA Bosniak
Milorad Dodik SNSD Serb
Željko Komšić DF Croat
8
(16 November 2022 – present)
2022 Denis Bećirović SDP BiH Bosniak
Željka Cvijanović SNSD Serb
Željko Komšić DF Croat

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Presidencia de Bosnia y Herzegovina para niños

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