The de facto leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, used Saturday, the day of electoral silence, to promote two close associates running for the highest offices in the state and the entity. The promotion was organised through the commemoration of the rescue of American pilots in the Second World War, and the ceremony was held near Doboj in central Bosnia.
Alongside Dodik were Željka Cvianković, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina running for a new term, and the current entity prime minister, Savo Minić. The gathering was broadcast live on the entity's public broadcaster, RTRS.
The gathering was formally dedicated to the memory of the Halyard operation of 1944 and 1945. The Halyard operation was conducted by the Americans to rescue their pilots whose aircraft had been shot down in combat missions over Yugoslavia. The Americans used the support of Draža Mihailović's Chetniks, who, under American pressure, only joined the rescue of American pilots when it became clear that their German allies were losing the war.
According to various sources, the Americans managed to evacuate between 350 and 500 of their airmen, mostly from the territory of Serbia. Part of the evacuated pilots were extracted via a makeshift airfield near Doboj. The Partisans saved more than two thousand allied pilots, yet this fact was not mentioned on Saturday. The troops were portrayed as collaborators of the Nazis and the Ustaše.
Minić and Cvianković, in their speeches, glorified the Chetniks, stating that the Serbs 'have always been on the right side'. Minić said: 'Our tricolour has never been on the wrong side of history.' He praised the current American president, Donald Trump, stating: 'He is a leader who absolutely understands history.' Minić's pre-election polls forecast a tight race against the opposition candidate, Branko Blanuša.
Dodkin had taken Mini to Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the beginning of the week, and Mini had subsequently sought to create the impression that he had good relations with the US. Cviank is a clear favourite in the race against two opponents from the opposition. She stated that she believed the period in which the Serbs had poor relations with the US was in the past, and that 'a better time is coming'. Cvian has long been on a list of persons subject to US sanctions, and the Trump administration lifted sanctions on Cvian and Dodkin in October 2025.
