LOCAL PRESS
Serbian Mission to UN reacts to Rama’s speech (Politika/Tanjug/RTS)
The Serbian Mission to the UN has reacted to the speech by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the UN General Assembly, when he called all countries of the world to recognize independence of Kosovo. The Serbian Ambassador to the UN Milan Milanovic, responding to the stand of the Albanian Prime Minister, stressed that Rama abused the speech in the General Assembly and fooled the UN member states that the dialogue was conducted between two states – Serbia and Kosovo. The truth is, assessed the Serbian Ambassador, that at issue are negotiations between Belgrade and the provisional institutions of the self-administration in Kosovo, Radio and Television of Serbia reports. Ambassador Milanovic said that Kosovo was not an independent state or a UN member and recalled that talks on normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations were conducted in Brussels under the EU auspices.
Nikolic: Persist in fight to prevent Kosovo UN membership (Politika/RTS/Novosti)
At the commemoration for the victims of Nazi crimes in WWII, held in the Jajinci Memorial Park, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said that Serbia participates in the events on the global and the European stage in a positive way, even though the fight for an equal position of Serbia in the world politics is difficult and sometimes distressing. “Along with the efforts to boost the economic recovery of Serbia and create new jobs, we continue our fight to prevent the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo from becoming a member of the United Nations. We are making a tremendous effort to convince the reasonable people around the world that Kosovo cannot join the UNESCO, that the cultural heritage and the history of Kosovo are, in fact, Serbian. Serbia safeguarded that heritage over the past 11 centuries, and the Serbs should continue to safeguard it, because the geography, the fact that it is located in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, does not make it Kosovo’s but only and always Serbia’s,” the Serbian President stressed. Nikolic noted that oblivion and denial of the truth were not good allies, especially in the Balkans, which was trodden by conquerors and where wars raged much too often. “Serbia will never give up and back down. The heroes who gave their lives in this place oblige us. It is our duty to demonstrate with our actions that their suffering was not in vain,” Nikolic said at a ceremony in honor of more than 60,000 Serbs, Jews, Roma, communists and other anti-fascists who were executed by Nazis at the firing range in Jajinci from 1941 to 1944.
Dacic: Admitting Kosovo to UNESCO would be same as admitting ISIS (RTS/Tanjug)
“UNESCO’s decision to admit Kosovo would be self-destructive. Four sacred sites of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija – Visoki Decani, the Patriarchate of Pec, Gracanica and the Church of the Holy Virgin of Ljevisa – have been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, and inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger,” Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said at a monthly press conference in Belgrade. He specified that since the arrival of KFOR in the southern Serbian province in 1999, the Kosovo Albanians destroyed by dynamite or set fire to more than 200 Serb churches, monasteries and sites of religious and cultural significance and demolished 8,000 tombstones. However, Albania proposed that Kosovo be admitted to UNESCO, bypassing standard procedure. “It would be the same if someone proposed ISIS for the UNESCO membership,” said Dacic. “What is the difference? Serbia is against including the matter of Kosovo’s membership on the agenda of the UNESCO Executive Board meeting scheduled for October 12. Our position is that Kosovo’s admission to UNESCO should not be on the agenda before this matter is discussed in Brussels as part of the dialogue on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. We believe that it would be harmful for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue if the decisions on this issue were to be made based on the unilateral actions of Pristina or on outvoting in the UNESCO,” Dacic said.
Dacic: Action of entire international community necessary (Tanjug)
Serbian Foreign Minister and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ivica Dacic stated in Geneva on Monday that the search for a solution to the problem of mass migrations from Near East calls for responsible action of the entire international community, and added that the Serbian government has demonstrated readiness to do its share of work on all levels. “With the approach of winter, we will indubitably face an emergency situation in the region and a large-scale humanitarian crisis unless all relevant factors on the international, regional and local level come up with a better-coordinated approach and back each other in a complementary and mutually strengthening manner. A decisive and responsible action of the entire international community is necessary in order to define short- and long-term solutions in both provision of humanitarian aid and prevention of key causes of mass migrations,” Dacic said addressing the 66th session of the UNHCR Executive Committee in Geneva. Serbia is on one of the main routes of migrant tide and more than 170,000 migrants have crossed the Serbian border since the beginning of the year, which is five times more compared to 2014. The fact that around 600 asylum requests have been filed to Serbia shows that the country is not regarded as the final destination by refugees and migrants and that they are instead headed to EU member countries, Dacic said.
Vucic: Resumption of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue on 13 October (Tanjug)
In his address at the Fifth Belgrade Security Forum, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia will continue to work on maintaining stability, which is a precondition for economic development. “We will continue our talks with the Kosovo Albanians on 13 October this year and I have no doubt that we will overcome all the differences in a peaceful way,” Vucic said.
Djuric briefs Austrian Foreign Ministry on Brussels dialogue (Beta)
The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric met with a delegation of the Austrian Foreign Ministry led by its Director-General for European Affairs Hubert Heiss, who said that Austria was firm in its stance that all countries in the region should be part of the EU. Austria remains firm in its stance that all countries in the region should be part of the EU, which is important both for the Western Balkans and for the EU. Without stability in this region, there is no stability in Europe either, and that is why this region must be in the EU’s focus, Heiss said in Belgrade. According to the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Heiss stressed the importance of keeping the Western Balkans on the EU political agenda, and clear EU prospects for all countries in the region. Djuric briefed the representatives of the Austrian Foreign Ministry on the course of the Brussels dialogue and the topics that Belgrade was looking to open in the next phase of the normalization process. Significant steps forward can be made in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue if the status issue is put aside and if there is good will on both sides to hold direct talks about the topics that can be addressed without the EU mediation, said Djuric.
SNP: Diplomatic activity necessary to prevent Kosovo’s UNESCO membership (Tanjug/RTS/Novosti)
The Serbian People’s Party (SNP) has invited the Serbian government to launch the broadest diplomatic initiative against Kosovo’s UNESCO membership, the SNP leader Nenad Popovic said. He opined that Serbia needs to send an open invitation to Russia for assistance and influence with its diplomatic channels for as many possible member states of UNESCO to vote against the proposal for Kosovo’s membership in this organization. This also needs to be discussed with the BRICS states, friends in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and especially with the member states of the UNESCO Executive Board, from the US and Germany, via Austria and United Arab Emirates, to Montenegro and Macedonia. “With Kosovo entering UNESCO, the most valuable and most sacred would be seized from Serbia, and this is the Nemanjic heritage that is proof of the continuity of Serbian statehood and church since the middle ages. The entire identity of the Serbian nation rests on this heritage,” Popovic said in a written statement.
REGIONAL PRESS
Dodik: Inzko continues with unconstitutional activities (Srna)
The Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik stated that High Representative to B&H Valentin Inzko continues with unconstitutional activities. When asked to comment on Inzko’s statement that the RS has no right to a referendum on the B&H Court and the Prosecutor’s Office, Dodik has said that Inzko is increasingly showing that he has not read the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Constitution of B&H ever since he had arrived in the region. “The high representative position was introduced by Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement signed by the RS that gave him the authority to assist in the implementation of only a portion of the Dayton Peace Agreement, titled the Agreement on Civilian Implementation,” Dodik told the reporters in Trebinje. He pointed out that Inzko is behaving arrogantly, because he is of the opinion that he is supported by the opposition in the RS and the position at B&H level and that he is entitled to present such untruths not only to the public in the RS, but also in the Report to the UN Security Council in which he states that the RS breaches the Dayton Accords with activities related to the organization of a referendum on the B&H Court and Prosecutor’s Office. “He is not the one who concludes it. This is just one more proof of persistent violations of the Dayton Peace Agreement and unconstitutional activities of the high representative in B&H,” Dodik said. High Representative Valentin Inzko stated in an interview to Srna that the RS citizens are entitled to freedom of speech, but not to a referendum on the B&H Court.
Common opinion – change is necessary (Srna)
The RS Justice Minister Anton Kasipovic says that during a TAIEX seminar on the reform of judicial institutions at the B&H state level, the participants expressed a common view that changes in the sector are necessary, primarily when it comes to the Court of B&H and the law that regulates the area. Kasipovic told Srna that the RS considers the issue of the B&H Court’s jurisdiction especially important and that during the seminar much attention was drawn to the concept of a courts law that was developed by the RS Justice Ministry. “There were both affirmative and opposing views, i.e. different opinions to those offered by the RS. The conclusion is that the EU experts, who have worked together with us for the last two days, should draw up their expert opinions treating both proposals equally – the draft law on courts from the RS and the proposal of the B&H Justice Ministry from 2013 – so that we can continue to bring into line an optimal text, primarily to define the jurisdiction of the B&H Court,” said Kasipovic. The different kinds of disagreements heard during the seminar, both in terms of the ministries and within the judicial community between individual institutions, mean that there is a very difficult task ahead of us, he said. “However, this is an important issue and we need to work on it. It has to be brought in connection with the Reform Agenda. Regardless of the disagreements, the RS will try to strengthen its proposal because we believe that on the basis of what we suggested, there can be improved solutions made,” added Kasipovic. The two-day TAIEX seminar in the framework of the Structured Dialogue on Justice wrapped up in Sarajevo on Friday. The gathering was attended by the line ministers of B&H, RS and Federation of B&H, as well as the top officials from the state’s judicial institutions. The seminar was organized after a meeting of justice ministers in Brussels on September 10, where they reiterated the commitment to the Structured Dialogue on Justice and signed the protocol stipulating a set of measures to deal with the reform priorities in the sector. The seminar was opened by the Head of the EU Delegation to B&H, Special Representative, and Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark.
Brammertz to visit B&H (fokus.ba)
The Chief Prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal Serge Brammertz will be visiting B&H from 5 to 7 October, and will be staying in Sarajevo and Mostar. The Prosecutor is invited to hold lectures to the students of the universities in Sarajevo and Mostar, where he will be speaking of the modern challenges of the international criminal justice. In Mostar, the Prosecutor will visit the Old Bridge and the Old Town, which are under the protection of UNESCO as a part of world heritage, and talk about the protection of cultural heritage with the UNESCO representatives. Brammertz will take advantage of the opportunity to meet with the representatives from the Prosecutor’s Office of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, and talk about the processing of war crimes and issues of joint interest. In Sarajevo, the Prosecutor will meet with Valentin Inzko, the High Representative to B&H, Johnatan Moore, the Chief of the Mission of OSCE in B&H, as well as with Sezin Sinanoglu, the resident representative of UNDP. The visit of the Prosecutor Brammertz to the region within the regular preparations for the submission of report to the Security Council of the UN is expected in the coming months, it was announced from the United Nations.
Protests in other cities will (not) be held tomorrow (Srna)
The Ministry of Interior (Mol) and Police of Montenegro did not authorized the protests of the Democratic Front (DF) which are scheduled for tomorrow at 15 Montenegrin cities, because applications were not submitted in accordance with the procedure and/or were not complete, according to Interior Minister Rasko Konjevic and Police Director Slavko Stojanovic. Protest walks by the DF supporters, which are scheduled for tomorrow in 15 Montenegrin cities, are going to be held, despite the announcements of the Ministry of Interior that they will be forbidden, said the DF. The DF official Milutin Djukanovic said at a press conference that the DF was told, in an earlier communication from the MoI, that it is sufficient to announce the walk to the ministry 48 hours in advance, which they, as he said, did and added that the walk in 15 Montenegrin cities will start at 18.00 hours.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Serbia: No longer a pariah nation. (The Herald Sun, by Claudia Koonz, 3 October 2015)
On July 11, Bosnians throwing stones and bottles drove the prime minister of Serbia from a memorial service in Srebrenica because he refused to call the massacre committed there in 1995 a “genocide.” The stereotype of Serbia as an outlaw nation reverberates in news about the immigrant crisis. An Amnesty International report, for example, calls Serbia and Macedonia “a sink for the overflow of refugees and migrants” that nobody wants, and journalists merge Serbia with its neighbors in a “Balkan no man’s land.” Indeed, Serbia is among the poorest of Balkan nations and lacks infrastructure to support large influxes of refugees. With unemployment at 20 percent (and 40 percent for young adults), its social welfare budget barely meets domestic needs. Yet it’s time to separate Serbia from its past and its neighbors. Despite their nationalism, Serbian leaders desire to stay on track for admission to the European Union, prompting them to endorse human rights. This helps explain the emergence of a dynamic civil society — from the ruins of ethnic war — that has helped create a remarkable refugee care network to cope with the alarming numbers of desperate people who cross its southern border. Every day at the Preševo reception center in southernmost Serbia, new arrivals receive a hot meal, water and a personal hygiene package. In the past three days, local stakeholders working with the German NGO Hilfe/Help have distributed more than 1,000 parcels containing canned fish, bread, jam and water. The Belgrade Center for Human Rights, founded 20 years ago, dispatches teams of lawyers, psychologists, translators and volunteers to connect refugees with local police, hospitals and shelters. Serbian NGOs struggle to accommodate 4,000 unaccompanied minors, while international organizations like the UNHCR, Catholic Relief Services, the Samaritans and the Red Cross depend on grassroots affiliates. When I met with Marea Grinwald at the Refugee Protection Agency in Belgrade in July, I could scarcely imagine how a dozen staff and 20 or so volunteers were able to provide shelter, legal advice, counseling and food at five centers throughout the country — especially in light of Serbian regulations that generate chaos. Within 72 hours of their registration, refugees must leave Serbia, but only roughly half of the 3,000 refugees who arrive every day manage to avoid registration, and most of those who do register overstay the limit. Trapped in legal limbo, they rely on ad hoc aid from multiple sources. Only when the Serbian government regularizes its refugee policy can the expanding network of refugee care organizations operate more effectively. On Tuesday, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, warned that the refugee inflow had not yet peaked: “We are talking about millions of potential refugees trying to reach Europe, not thousands.” Against the impending arrival of refugees from the south, neighboring borders in Hungary and Croatia are militarizing. Meanwhile, the Serbian civilian initiatives offer a beacon of hope to the people trapped in the middle, which is why they deserve more international recognition — and more support from the Serbian government as well as the world community. Claudia Koonz is a history professor emeritus at Duke University who mentors the Duke Engage summer internship program in Serbia. She studies the formation of ethnic fears in Europe.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: twenty years on from Dayton (Open Democracy, by Mirela Zarichinova, 5 October 2015)
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a paralysed state. Can a way out be found by leaving behind the Dayton Peace Accord?
The conference centre, now named “Richard Holbrooke”, seems deserted. We walk along its empty hallways but see no sign of human existence. The only evidence that something of historical significance once happened here are five huge photos hung in the lobby. They depict men in suits gathered around a map, men in suits on red carpet, men in suits giving interviews to a bunch of reporters. Under these photos lies a pile of wedding brochures. We continue. As we walk deeper into the building, we hear voices in the middle of a dark corridor. A woman and a man, looking no more than 25, are folding napkins and seem confused to see visitors. “A peace agreement? I’ve heard something happened here but to be honest never paid too much attention”, explains the woman who is fast to clarify that she started working here 2 years ago and that the other employees are even more recent. Nevertheless, she knows where the meetings took place. We follow her back to the corridor where she opens one unusually thick door with a special lock. As I enter the small, messy room, which is full of chairs, three tables and some rubber tree plants, I imagine the faces of Slobodan Milošević, Alija Izetbegović and Franjo Tuđman who were here in the autumn of 1995. I imagine them angry, scared and suffocated by the lack of space, I am curious as to what they said to each other in these rooms, around these dark corridors. We are somewhere near Dayton, Ohio, in the conference centre inside Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. 20 years ago the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, was negotiated here. It put an end to the Bosnian War. The talks that took place in this small room shaped the future of a region and particularly that of one country. These talks stopped the most violent conflict in Europe after WWII but also institutionalised segregation to an unbelievable level. “If I were you, I’d go to Cincinnati, there is nothing interesting in Dayton”, says the waitress at the only visible restaurant in the downtown area of the city. We asked her for some tourist landmarks from the negotiations as an excuse to check if anyone here knows about the agreement. No, no mark from the crucial talks seemed to have remained in Dayton, neither for the tourists, nor in the minds of its citizens; the woman at the hotel near the conference centre,;the volunteer at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force; the guard in front of the city court. Funny how on the other part of the world, in the beautiful mountainous Balkan country of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), “Dayton” is one of the most frequently used words. It pops up whenever a local tries to explain what is not functioning well in their country. Unfortunately this applies to almost everything. 20 years after the whole world looked towards the little American town of Dayton, today’s Bosnia is more and more often considered a failed state.
Bosnia before the war
Before the war, the three main ethnic groups in Bosnia – the Muslim Bosniaks, the Christian Orthodox Serbs and the Catholic Croats – were highly mixed within the Socialist Republic of BiH, one of the six federal units of Yugoslavia. The leader, Josip Broz Tito, managed to suppress conflicting ethnic identities and encourage a Yugoslav one which, at the time, played the key political role. After his death in 1980, however, with the deterioration of the political and economic situation in Yugoslavia, ethnic identities became a source of nationalist sentiments which turned into tensions, gradually resulting in the ethnically-rooted war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The war was a political one, however “the existing religions played an important role in defining the national histories of the three groups in tragic terms. All the respective religions in the area perceived themselves as frontier religions and were inclined to act and react as such”, writes the Croatian sociologist Srđan Vrcan. By 1995 the conflict had lasted for almost 4 years. The capital, Sarajevo, was suffering the longest siege in modern history. Mass rapes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide were all taking place. Approximately 100,000 people were killed and more than half of the population (2.2 million) was displaced, making this war the most devastating conflict in Europe since World War II.
A never ending conflict
It seemed to last forever and, even worse, no hope for successful resolution was seen on the horizon. The truly multicultural environment, which had been a source of Bosnian pride during Yugoslavian times, was now reason for their agony. People were so mixed, they were practically fighting with their neighbors. There was no political will from within the country to end the conflict and all peace talks had failed. After enormous pressure from the international community the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and then-Yugoslavia finally agreed to meet in a neutral zone. This would be Dayton. A vast, radiant land, sparsely populated and surrounded by rivers where no person could be seen outside of a car: this is how the area around the military base in Dayton looks in the late summer of 2015, I doubt that much has changed since 1995. This is definitely a location to keep the minds and bodies of the harsh men away from any distraction. What followed this very unusual decision-making process was the creation of perhaps the world’s most complicated governing system. The conference was chaired by chief US peace negotiator Richard Holbrooke and co-chaired by Russian and EU representatives. Not only did the sole agreement for a cease-fire have to be reached here, but also all the specifics of how the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina would function had to be agreed. Furthermore, the lives of the warring ethnic groups who had been fighting for years and were now expected go back to normal had to be reorganised. There, in Dayton, the three leaders had talk to each other without using the media as a propaganda tool and, above all, without running away.
Bosnia after Dayton
The Constitution of BiH came as an Annex to the Peace Agreement. In an attempt to create inter-ethnic balance in Bosnia’s political affairs, the participants in the conference set up a very uncommon federal state structure and divided the country into two main entities. One is Republika Srpska with a Serb majority and the second is Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Federation) with a Bosniak and Croat majority. Republika Srpska is highly centralised and unitary in character, while the Federation consists of ten cantons, each having their own cantonal government and parliament with broad constitutional powers and discrepancies in the areas of culture, healthcare and education. Even more complicated is the Brčko District: a neutral, self-governing administrative unit, established in 2000 after an arbitration process undertaken by the Office of the High Representative. The special status of Brčko came as a result of its geostrategic importance, now forming a corridor between the two sections of Republika Srpska. If we cite the former High Representative to Bosnia, Paddy Ashdown, Dayton was “a superb agreement to end a war but a very bad agreement to make a state”. The agreement and the system of governing that it brought did indeed stop the bloodshed but the price was, still is, and will probably continue to be fierce institutional division between Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats.
Two schools, one roof
One of the most painful paradoxes of post-Dayton Bosnia is the so-called “Two schools under one roof” system, which operates in a number of schools in the Federation, particularly in municipalities with mixed Bosniak/Croat population. There the pupils attend classes in the same building while being physically separated. They use different classrooms and sometimes enter the building through different entrances. Schools have two sets of administration. The teachers follow different national programmes and teach in the national language of one of the two groups – either Bosnian or Croatian – two languages so close to each other that it is almost impossible for a foreigner to make a distinction).
The legal system
There are four court systems in the country: one on state level, one each in the two entities and the separate court system of Brčko District. Each of the two entities has its own Constitutional and Supreme courts. The same complexity applies to the legal acts in the country which results in huge legal discrepancies and makes the system too confusing even for experts working inside of it.
The “Others”
The Dayton Constitution makes a distinction between two categories of citizens: the so-called “Constituent Peoples” (Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs) and the “Others”. Bosnia is ruled by a collective Presidency of three members, composed of a Bosniak and a Croat from the Federation and a Serb from Republika Srpska. The chairmanship rotates every eight months. The same goes for the House of Peoples, which consists of five Bosniaks and five Croats from the Federation and five Serbs from Republika Srpska. This means that Jews, Roma, other national minorities, people who come from mixed marriages or just refuse to declare affiliation with one of the three ethnic groups cannot run as candidates for the two highest state organs, as well as for many other public posts. In Bosnia, collective rights are much better protected than the individual ones. A person does not exist as an individual and cannot rely on the system if he or she is not a member of one of the three ethnic groups, says Dennis Gratz, the former chairman of Naša Stranka (a political party which is multi-ethnic and a striking exception of the general rule). A person is not provided social benefits or any assistance from the state outside their entity or even canton, adds Gratz. Mirsada, a 27-year-old woman from Tuzla, illustrates the problem: “My health insurance is not valid in Sarajevo. So, after I came here to live, I had to choose between traveling to Tuzla every time I have a problem or to pay for insurance. I could not afford both and basically every time I get sick I try to take care of it myself”.
Could Dayton be changed?
Clearly, such discrimination is unacceptable for a modern state, especially one that has expressed plans to join the EU. “Changing of the Constitution is a very delicate matter, mainly because the authorities of Republika Srpska see it as the guarantee for the existence of the entity,” says Nataša Kovačev, a Serbian journalist based in Sarajevo. She does not see the possibility of it happening soon as feasible. There are arguments supporting her opinion. In the famous “Sejdić and Finci” case, two Bosnian citizens of Roma and of Jewish origin, challenged the Dayton Constitution at the hightest European level – the European Court of Human Rights. In 2009 the Court confirmed that the two were discriminated against and ascertained that BiH had to change its Constitution in a way that the “Others” could also run for high political posts. This was a crucial decision because its implementation would mean a complete change of the Constitutional order in the country. Essentially, it is not so much about Romani and Jewish people but about destructing the vicious model of segregation in all aspects of Bosnian political life through including the “Others” and thus decreasing the importance of ethnic belonging. The decision was never implemented. Due to the incredible educational, legal and political complexities not only is the system hard to understand but it is slow, inefficient and, most of all, corrupt. “If something is flourishing in Bosnia today, this is corruption and clientelism”, says Lana, a student of political science in Sarajevo. For many the current system means property qualification and obstruction of their right to free movement. Locals criticise the government for being more interested in their property gains than in any social problem. Most striking, however, is the social contrast – the salaries of Bosnian MPs are more than six times higher than the average one in the country, making them the best paid in Europe. This provokes strong social discontent. For example, one of the most viral pictures of Pope Francis’ visit to the Bosnian capital in June was the one comparing the modest car he was using to the super-luxurious ones of the government officials welcoming him. While Bosnia sleeps, in Dayton the weather is incredibly hot, the air is not moving, the wide sidewalks are empty and there is no one around. Dayton looks sad and lonely today, only cars and a few trolley buses pass us by. These trolleys are just as empty as the streets and look quite unusual for an American town. They make me remember the overcrowded trolleys passing from the remote Dobrinje neighbourhood to the centre of Sarajevo. Last winter sometimes city transport would stop in the capital of Bosnia because of unpaid bills and people would have to walk home.
The Presidency is set alight
The trolleys in Sarajevo also had to stop in early 2014 when people’s despair and anger exploded into fierce protests and thousands demanded immediate changes in the social politics of Bosnia and the country’s main cities again witnessed violent scenes. Demonstrators in Sarajevo, Tuzla and other big towns attacked buildings, threw eggs and stones, broke windows and even set fire to a section of the Presidency building. In Bosnia one in five people lives below the poverty line and youth unemployment is almost 60%. Lana directly points out at the Dayton Agreement as the true roots of this social unrest, saying that “This system has made impossible any economic progress, our country is in fact a neocolonial state. It is here not to help the citizens but only to serve the interests of the Westerners and of our corrupted politicians”. Despite being an active participant in the protests, she does not believe they changed anything. According to Federico Sikurela, screenwriter of the documentary “Sarajevolution” and an academic researcher focused on the Balkans, the majority of the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina have implicitly ratified the status quo by keeping the political parties that have most profited from the system’s numerous faults and loopholes in power. He points to the blogger Jessie Hronesova who convincingly argues that this electoral behaviour is in fact highly rational and pragmatic. Jobs and the entire civil service are attached to party allegiance, which means that voting for a non-established party could significantly undermine one’s chance to get or maintain a job. The way out of this vicious circle would be to create new economic opportunities, to make the people less dependent on the state structure and therefore more inclined to challenge the establishment. This, however, is not in the interest of the established political parties. “Twenty years on from the end of the war, Bosnia is yet to come to terms with its past. There is a strong argument that advancement towards the EU would provide firmer foundations for the process of reconciliation”, says a Western diplomat in the Balkans who asked that his identity not be disclosed due to the nature of his work. In his view, whilst the prospect of EU membership remains distant, the incentives for reform will also remain weak.
Parallel actors
Lana is not the only one in her opinion against foreign intrusion. On the streets of Sarajevo you hear a lot of EU skepticism and a general negative attitude towards any foreign interference – American and western European NGOs, charity organisations from the Gulf countries and so on. In the presence of an almost non-existing state, therefore, it is no surprise that parallel actors take over the empty space. For example, Sarajevo previously lacked a convenient public library, one was recently opened with the money provided by the state of Qatar. It combines all the necessary features of a good library – it is clean, spacious, silent, air-conditioned but comes with certain demands. For example, women are not allowed to wear pants and skirts above the knees or to show their shoulders. As long as this is the only option to study in a calm environment, then women follow these rules. Ever since the war there has been the concern that Islamist militant groups will use Bosnia to spread Islamist ideas and recruit fighters – a concern that is recently gaining traction with the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Kovačev gives the example of Zvornik where a man attacked a police station shouting “Allahu Akbar” in April this year, one policeman was killed and two more were wounded. In her opinion, however, media sensationalism plays a great role around this topic due to the current situation in the Middle East. The journalist believes that the actual threat is the damage such sensational reporting could bring to smaller mixed communities. It risks raising tensions between different ethnic and religious groups which have already suffered a lot and are only now slowly rebuilding trust and cooperation.This threat of new interethnic tensions is what keeps the country inside its paradoxical state and paralyses any attempt for radical change and it is a card played by all actors involved. As for Dayton, it seems too hot, unfriendly and lifeless. The waitress is maybe right – there is nothing interesting here. So, we decide to spend the night somewhere else. As we try to find our way out of it, we see a huge sign on the road: “Dayton. Exit only.” It’s not just us trying to find a better place to stay. Bosnia’s way out of its dead end is clearly through leaving the Dayton system behind. Whether it is too soon or too late for the little Balkan country to start an independent life is something we don’t yet know.
