Bosnia and Herzegovina – the war scars are still visible

The 1990s heralded in one of the darkest chapters of European post WWII history; the emergence of a period of great instability and violence in the Balkans. Slowly, the former republic of Yugoslavia collapsed following the change in international economic dynamics at the end of the Cold War, alongside the death of its charismatic and uniting leader Jossip Tito. Vast differences in economic performance within Yugoslavia became evident and while these inequalities created political tension, it also resulted in the emergence of the issue of ethnicity – some rather focussed on religious identity – which went on to fuel the emerging conflict.

After Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence and overcame the short violent intervention from the Serbian-led military, a vast majority of the citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina expressed a desire to become independent as well. One driving factor was inequality: only 30% of the population on Bosnian territory identified themselves as Serbian a yet still controlled half of the properties in the country, perpetuating a power hierarchy in favour of the Serbs and influencing the debate about borders. The aspect of ethnic identity triggered nationalist movements divided into Serbians (orthodox Christians), Bosnians (Muslims) and Croatians (catholic Christians), even if anthropologically belonged ethnically to the same group.

The heated conflict about power, territory and identity led to extraordinary levels of violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although UN peacekeeping troops were present and had established a protectorate, acts of genocide could not be avoided and peaked in the massacre of Srebrenica, when over 8000 male Bosnians were brutally killed by Serbian military forces. Mass rape was another tool used to carry out the genocide of Bosnians. Between 30,000 and 100,000 women were raped and consequently forced to give birth to the resulting chiildren, under the belief that the cultural and ethnical identity would be provided by the father, hence making the children Serbian in this context.

Only following pressure and military intervention from the international community, did the leaders of the conflict parties Alija Izetbegović (Bosnian leader), Slobodan Milošević (Serbian leader) und Franjo Tuđjman (Croatian leader), as well as the US president Bill Clinton, French president Jaques Chiraque and German chancellor Helmut Kohl, sign the Dayton Agreement in 1995, ending the war over Bosnia and Herzogovina. The Dayton Agreement clarified the demands for territorial independence, leading to a decentralized administration within Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 49% of the territory belong to the Serbian Republic within the country and 51% to the federation Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, the Dayton Agreement introduced quotas for the former conflict parties for the national political bodies to assure a balance of interests and established the position of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina to look over the country.

Unfortunately, the Dayton Agreement did not solve all the problems: due to the (only partially necessary) intervention of the High Representative in politics, without consideration of a discursive reconciliation culture, nationalist attitudes were reinforced in the past two decades. Moreover, in accordance with the Dayton Agreement, the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina now ascribes ethnic quotas, but ignored the Roma and Jewish population. The de facto leaders Dervo Sejdić and Jacob Finci of the two communities were therefore fighting a legal battle in 2009 at the European Court of Human Rights, with an agreement for reformation only reached in 2011.

In addition, Bosnia and Herzegovina is struggling with its poor economic performance and insufficient FDI, while the deep dissatisfaction with the country’s situation keeps stereotypes alive, which is compounded by the absence of someone to blame. The country is still partially divided although mutual symbols of a flag and an anthem have been introduced. Even the face of the capital Sarajevo is still scarred, not only because of destroyed buildings but also due to the fact that the Eastern part, in which predominantly Serbians live, uses the Cyrillic alphabet, while the rest of the city uses Latin letters.

In this complex situation the question arises: what happened to the responsibility of the international community and the countries that, too, signed the Dayton Agreement? Bosnia and Herzegovina is very far from gaining membership in the European Union, economic progress seems extremely difficult and nationalist parties remain strong, all adding to a situation of perpetual conflict. The necessary steps to assure stability and improvement of the economic situation can hardly be achieved by the country’s own resources and capabilities. Even before the economic crisis in Europe and the Lehman-brothers-crash in the USA, the interest in the region had decreased – probably the potential for economic benefits are simply too low to support the stability process.

Photo Credits: Dennis Jarvis, Kashfi Halford

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