Is it time Bosnia and Herzegovina applied power-sharing models found in other divided societies in Europe? The next High Representative must continue working towards preserving the fragile balance between three ethnic groups in the country.

Despite the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, the political rights of the so-called “other” citizens are still hampered in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, we can observe the lack of effective mechanisms for the participation of minorities in public life.

National minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not have effective access to their rights. The country is still deeply divided between the three constituent ethnicities – Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs – but also a fourth constitutional group, comprising more than a dozen other national minorities, called “the others”. The others are subject to institutional discrimination and they cannot fully participate in the country's political processes and are treated as second-rate citizens.

With a new enlargement strategy, the European Union gives itself more time while candidates and potential candidates claim a new chance to focus more seriously on upcoming reforms.

In 2018 civic resistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina acquired a new symbol – the raised fist of Davor Dragičević who, in quiet desperation, demanded justice for his dead son, David. The situation triggered a significant public outrage and the politicisation of David’s death. Since March 2018, mass protests were organised demanding justice. By the end of the year, the authorities started to violently block them and, eventually, banned any further gatherings.

As Thomas Jefferson once said: “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty”. Even in “stabilocracies” like Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia, whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. It was visible in 2014 when first the workers and later regular citizens paralyzed a number of Bosnian cities during events titled the “Bosnian spring”. Yet despite few governmental alterations, nothing has really changed – Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a captured state that protects its elites while citizens’ rights and control over the authorities are limited.

A journey of almost 1000 km along the Danube's greatest tributary kindling a dialogue between man, nature and neighbours.

This weekend the citizens of Latvia and Bosnia and Herzegovina had the chance to influence the direction of their countries.

Two decades after the war that tore their country apart, citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are still hoping to join the European Union. It’s a dream that some don’t wait for, as several thousands flee to the West in hope of a better life. While others, less conformist, choose to stay in order to rebuild what has been lost.

This piece originally appeared in Issue 3/2017 of New Eastern Europe. Subscribe now.

 

On January 17th the United States Treasury imposed sanctions on Republika Srpska’s president, Milorad Dodik, for his role in defying the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dayton Accords. In line with the sanctions, any property of Dodik located within the US jurisdiction is now blocked. Moreover, any transactions between the president and individuals from the US have been barred. “By obstructing the Dayton Accords, Milorad Dodik poses a significant threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said John E. Smith, acting director of Office of Foreign Assets Control.

A review of Sarajevo’s Holiday Inn on the Frontline of Politics and War by Kenneth Morrison, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

“Let the people decide when to celebrate their national day”, one may say about the last referendum held in the Republika Srpska. But the things get a bit more complicated when a holiday for one is a horror for another, as is the case of January 9th.