Bosnia: Unemployment Continues to Fall

The number of unemployed persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to decline. In September, unemployment in the Balkan country fell by 6.38% compared to the same month last year. According to a statement from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Labor and Employment Agency, “compared to the situation recorded in August 2024, the number of unemployed has decreased by 1.55 percent.”

A positive downward trend in unemployment has been recorded both in the Federation (Croatian-Muslim entity of the country) and in Republika Srpska (Serbian entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The unemployment rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the second quarter of 2024 was 13.3%, down 0.2 percentage points from the first quarter.

Republika Srpska wants to join the BRICS group of countries, and this was one of the topics of informal talks between Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and Russian Federation Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Kalabukhov. On Sunday, November 17, Dodik and Kalabukhov together visited the construction site of the Serbian-Russian Temple (pictured) in Banja Luka. The new Church of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, a symbol of friendship between Russians and Serbs, was built in memory of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the Romanov dynasty. The foundations of the new church, a replica of the Chudov Monastery church built in Moscow in 1358 inside the Kremlin and demolished by the Bolsheviks in 1918, were consecrated on September 17, 2018. “It will not just be a church, but a cultural center where forums, seminars, and other religious and secular events will be organized,” Dodik said.

On Friday, November 16, Serbian representative Zeljka Cvijanovic took over as head of the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the principle of rotation, Cvijanovic will serve as head of the Balkan country’s tripartite presidency for the next eight months. Cvijanovic replaced Bosnia’s representative Denis Becirovic.