Victor Orban, Aleksandar Vuciq and Benjamin Netanyah have two things in common this year: ahead of the elections, visited by Milorad Dodik and later registered poor election results.
Meanwhile, the SNSD leader has arrived in the United States, where he will attend a rally of MAGA movement in Mar-a-Lago.
If someone had thought that Dodik’s support could bring good luck to the elections, recent developments may have convinced him to the contrary.
The former president of Republika Srpska this year has visited three of his closest political allies, just on the eve of the elections. Everyone’s finished with disappointing results.
Orban: 22 days from embracing to losing
The first on this list is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Dodik met with him on March 21st in Budapest, on the eve of the Conference of Political Conservative Action ( CPAC).
During the meeting, Dodik congratulated Orban and his party Fidesz successfully, voicing confidence that they would win the elections, writes Clix.ba.
Orban, on the other hand, praised Dodik, saying Hungary would have failed if even half of what Republika Srpska leader had experienced.
But on 12 April, Peter Magyar’s Tisza party won the two-thirds majority in the Hungarian parliament, ending the 16 years of Orban power. The latter conceded defeat, naming the results clear and painful.
In late October, Orban visited Dodik in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this time as former prime minister.
Vuciq: Two weeks of plans and an election night
With Aleksandar Vucinqi, Dodik met at a restaurant in Belgrade on 11 October. During the meeting, Vuciq declared that both of them continued to meet and plan, despite having no longer held their former state positions.
Dodik congratulated Vuciqi soon to assume the post of prime minister of Serbia.
He supported it even during the election campaign, participating in a pre-election rally and appearing at Serbian Progressive Party ( SNS) on election night, October 25th, along with his son, Igor Dodik.
However, the Student List secured 52.9 per cent of the vote. Vuciq conceded defeat that very night, saying that the first results were clear that they had been lost.
Netanyah: Longest Waiting, Similar Results
Benjamin Netanyah, Dodik, visited him twice this year. The last meeting was held on 17 September in Jerusalem, about 40 days before the Israel elections.
After the meeting, Dodik wrote on the X platform that Netanyah had assured him he would do everything to create a framework of co-operation with Republika Srpska in the coming years.
After the October 27th elections, however, Netanyah’s political bloc secured 53 seats, while the opposition 48. Arab parties won 19 seats.
Since 61 MPs are needed for the parliamentary majority, Netanyah was left without the majority he had before. Opposition leader Yair Lapid described the outcome as a serious loss.
Next stop: Mar-a-Lago
On November 2nd, Dodik announced that he was traveling to the US, where he would attend a conference of the Republican MAGA movement and hold talks with congressers, senators and other key persons.
One day later, he published a brief message: Over.
Shortly after that, election results were published in the US, where the Republicans of Donald Trump, who Dodik had repeatedly supported, suffered deep losses.
Is Dodik really wrong or he just has the talent to appear near people just when the political wind starts to change, time will tell.
One thing is clear, however: This year he has completed three pre-election visits, and all three have ended with disappointment for his allies.
The only winner: Dodik himself
There are exceptions to this list. Five days before the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dodik visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. But Putin had no choice this fall, so he doesn’t get involved in this balance.
Meanwhile, in the October 4th elections, SNSD and its partners preserved the majority in the Republika Srpska Assembly.
Thus, the only one that can be considered winner this fall is Dodik himself. /Telegraphy/